Productive parameters and carcass yield of rabbits supplemented with foliage of L. leucocephala and G. ulmifolia rabbits production
Main Article Content
Keywords
Weight gain, meat:bone ratio, rabbit breeding, carcass quality
Abstract
Objective: Determine the effect of the inclusion of L. leucocephala and G. ulmifolia foliage on the productive parameters and carcass yield of New Zealand rabbits.
Desing/methodology/approach: 30 rabbits (15 females and 15 males) of the New Zealand breed were used, distributed in three treatments (5 females and 5 males), which consisted of feeding 200 g of concentrated food per day + 100 g of fresh L. leucocephala or G. ulmifolia foliage and a control group without supplementation.
Results: The total voluntary intake not was affected by the effect of the treatment or sex of the rabbits, an average value of 158.9 g day-1 was recorded. Weight gain was on average 27.2 g day-1. The slaughter weight of the rabbits was on average 2523 g. The carcass weight was 1,297 g and the average carcass yield was 51.6%. The dissectable tier content was lower in the supplemented rabbits (F = 6.70, P=0.001) with values ??of 1.6, 1.8 and 2.11% with fresh foliage of G. ulmifolia, L. leucocephala and without supplementation, this variable was not affected by sex. The proportion of viscera was on average 24.3%. The meat: bone ratio was 5.6 on average.
Limitations on study/implications: It was not possible to carry out bromatological analyzes of the foliages or their digestibility.
Fingings/conclusions: Supplementation of rabbits with foliage of G. ulmifolia and L. leucocephala decreases the proportion of dissectable gras and does not affect production parameters and carcass yield.
