World Rabbit Science - Vol. 18 (4)-2010

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Clinical, pathological and microbiological profiles of spontaneous enteropathies in growing rabbits
Effect of dietary soluble fibre level and protein source on growth, digestion, caecal activity and health of fattening rabbits
Effect of early feed restriction on performance and health status in growing rabbits slaughtered at 2 kg live-weight
Preslaughter risk factors associated with mortality and bruising in rabbits
Metabolic adaptations in neonatal mother-deprived rabbits
Use of straw and wood shavings as nest material in primiparous does
Effect of housing system (wire cage versus group-housing) and in-house air quality parameters on the behaviour of fattening rabbits
Book Review. Nutrition of the Rabbit (2nd Ed.)

URI permanente para esta colecciónhttps://riunet.upv.es/handle/10251/9139

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Book Review. Nutrition of the Rabbit (2nd Ed.)
(Universitat Politècnica de València, 2010-12-30) Pascual, Juan José
[EN] BOOK REVIEW: Nutrition of the Rabbit. 2nd Edition. C. de Blas and J. Wiseman (Eds.). CABI Wallingford and Cambridge, Massachusetts (2010). 325 pp. ISBN: 978 1 84593 669 3.
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Effect of housing system (wire cage versus group-housing) and in-house air quality parameters on the behaviour of fattening rabbits
(World Rabbit Science. ICTA. UPV, 2010-12-30) Ribikauskas, Vytautas; Ribikauskiene, Daiva; Skurdeniene, Ina
[EN] In the same room of an experimental rabbit house 2 housing systems were compared, namely three pens to keep rabbits on bedding and six wire cages for unbedded rabbit keeping. In total, 69 New Zealand White crossbred rabbits 8-12 wk old were used in the study. The rabbits were kept in groups with 0.6 m2 floor area per animal in pens with thinly scattered straw. Wire cages had no bedding and there were 4 rabbits in each cage and 0.4 m2 floor area per rabbit. The study lasted for 8 wk. Rabbit behaviour was observed once 1 wk for 24 h. Behaviour was recorded using a scan sampling every hour. Results were analysed by calculating the percentage frequency of each behaviour. Behaviour analysis according to the keeping method indicated that rabbits kept on bedding spent on average less time resting and grooming (41.53 % and 5.18 % vs. 53.60 % and 8.48 %) and more time eating (29.86 % vs. 18.03 %, respectively) in comparison with those kept in wire cages. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between environmental temperature, illumination, ammonia and carbon dioxide gas concentrations and activity of rabbits.
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Use of straw and wood shavings as nest material in primiparous does
(World Rabbit Science. ICTA. UPV, 2010-12-30) Blumetto, Oscar; Olivas, Irene; Torres Salvador, Antonio Germán; Villagrá, Arantxa
[EN] In rabbit production, several materials such as hay, straw, wood shavings or waste wool and cotton are used as nesting materials during parturition. In this work, straw and wood shavings were studied as potential materials for nest boxes, and a choice test was designed for this purpose. Two replicates of 30 primiparous does each were carried out. Does were housed 10 d before parturition in a double commercial cage, so each doe had access to 2 different nest boxes. One of the nests was filled with 8 cm of barley straw and the other with 8 cm of wood shavings, so the doe could choose which of them she prepared and gave birth in. During the 24 h prior to parturition, the state of the nest was assessed, according to the mixing of the material and the doe's hair and the preservation of the original material, as well as the chosen nest box. When the does gave birth, the number of live and dead newborn was recorded. In the first replicate, 87% of the does chose the straw nest box, while in the second replicate 93% of the does did so. The number of live kits at birth did not differ statistically for straw and wood shavings nests (8.36+-1.74 vs. 6.85+-3.44), but litters reared in straw reacted a higher size at weaning (7.98+-1.73 vs. 6.29+-3.35; P<0.05). Finally, all the nests achieved a good level of mixing between the original material and the hair of the doe and only 5% of the does removed the original material (regardless of whether it was straw or wood shavings) and made the nest only with their hair. In conclusion, our results suggest that does might have a strong preference for straw rather than wood shavings as nest material.
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Metabolic adaptations in neonatal mother-deprived rabbits
(World Rabbit Science. ICTA. UPV, 2010-12-30) Brecchia, Gabriele; Zerani, Massimo; Bonano, Adriana; Boiti, Cristiano; Ministero dell'Istruzione dell'Università e della Ricerca, Italia
[EN] In order to study the metabolic adaptation in response to 48 h transient doe-litter separation (DLS) in young rabbits (5 rabbits/d group) between postnatal 9 and 11 d, plasma concentrations of thyroid hormones T3 and T4, insulin, leptin, glucose, triglycerides (TG), and free fatty acids (FFA) were examined before (6-8 d), during (9-11 d), and after separation (12-16 d). T3 concentrations in newborn control rabbits gradually increased from 0.6 ng/mL at postnatal 6 d to 1.0 ng/mL at postnatal 16 d, whereas those of T4 remained fairly constant (25 ng/mL) up to postnatal 14 d, when T4 gradually declined to 8 ng/mL. T3 values of DLS newborn rabbits did not differ from those of controls at postnatal 10 and 11 d, but were lower (P<0.05) at postnatal 12 d, while T4 concentrations in DLS animals increased, although not significantly, between postnatal 10 and 12 d compared to controls. Insulin concentrations in young control rabbits ranged between 0.6 and 1.0 mg/L in the early postnatal days, whereas those for leptin averaged 2-3 ng/mL. Insulin and leptin values in DLS newborn rabbits were lower (P<0.05) at postnatal 10 and 11 d, but thereafter rebounded to levels close to those of controls. Glycaemia showed a comparable trend in both groups, ranging between 170 and 190 mg/dL up to postnatal 14 d, but thereafter decreased (P<0.05) to values of 120-130 mg/dL independently of treatment. Concentrations of TG varied greatly from day to day around a mean value of 300 mg/dL, whereas those of FFA remained at approximately the same steady-state levels from postnatal 6 to 16 d, averaging 0.8 mM without any significant differences between groups. In conclusion, these findings confirm that newborn rabbits can cope with the metabolic stress of starvation associated with DLS by lowering insulin and leptin concentrations while maintaining those of thyroid hormones, an overall endocrine response which, together with temporary increase of glucorticoids, successfully maintains an adequate energy balance.
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Preslaughter risk factors associated with mortality and bruising in rabbits
(World Rabbit Science. ICTA. UPV, 2010-12-30) Petracci, M.; Bianchi, M.; Biguzzi, G.; Cavani, C.; Ministero dell'Istruzione dell'Università e della Ricerca, Italia
[EN] The aim of this study was to identify and quantify risk factors associated with the mortality and bruising rate prevalence in 975 commercial batches of growing rabbits delivered for slaughter. The effects of environmental temperature, batch size (number of rabbits delivered per batch), journey and lairage duration on dead on arrival (DOA) and bruising prevalence were investigated and expressed as an odds ratio (OR). This value is equivalent to the relative risk, assessing each specific factor relative to its reference category (OR=1). The overall mortality rate of 0.09% was affected by environmental temperature, batch size, journey and lairage duration. A significantly increased DOA risk was associated with very low (<7.3°C; OR=1.28) and very high (>=22.6°C; OR=1.85) environmental temperatures. In addition, a significantly higher odds ratio (OR=1.70) was observed in the largest batches (>=3681 rabbits). Both increasing journey and lairage duration dramatically increased the risk of death during the preslaughter period. Rabbits belonging to batches either transported or laired for a long time had a roughly threefold higher risk of death. The overall prevalence of bruise percentage was 2.13% and was affected by environmental temperature, batch size and journey duration. Environmental temperatures ranging from 7.3 to 12.4°C decreased the risk of bruising (OR=0.90), whereas temperatures from 17.5 to 22.6°C and higher than 22.6°C exhibited significantly higher OR values (1.22 and 1.34, respectively). Moreover OR values were higher for small (734 to 1716 rabbits; OR=1.21) and very small (<734 rabbits; OR=1.36) batches, but also for very large ones (>=3681; OR=1.10). As for journey time, transport duration from 308 to 411 min and longer than 411 min duration increased bruising risk (OR= 1.15 and 1.19, respectively), while this risk was slightly decreased (OR=0.96) for medium journey duration (205 to 308 min). In conclusion, even though average DOA and bruising rates were quite low compared with chickens and turkeys, further logistics and planning improvements should be made in batch harvesting to reduce transport and lairage duration as far as possible in conjunction with extremely low and high environmental temperatures.
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Effect of early feed restriction on performance and health status in growing rabbits slaughtered at 2 kg live-weight
(World Rabbit Science. ICTA. UPV, 2010-12-30) Romero, Carlos; Cuesta, S.; Astillero, J.R.; Nicodemus, Nuria; Blas, Carlos de
[EN] The effect of a time-limited access to the feeders (8 h per d from 9:30 to 17:30) on fattening performance and health status was studied in rabbits reared until 2 kg live-weight as typical in the Spanish market. For this purpose, the same diet (10.5 MJ digestible energy/kg, 38.9% neutral detergent fibre and 18.4% crude protein on dry matter basis) was used over two consecutive trials. A total of 192 growing rabbits (96 in each trial) were weaned at 35 d and assigned to 2 different feeding treatments (continuously fed ad libitum or restricted from 35 until 49 d). In the first trial, feed restriction reduced daily feed intake (94.3 vs. 74.2 g; P<0.001), daily weight gain (43.6 vs. 27.1 g; P<0.001) and impaired feed conversion rate (FCR) (2.28 vs. 2.92, P<0.001) in the first 14 d after weaning. Later on, no feed restriction was applied and a compensatory growth was observed in previously restricted rabbits (44.8 vs. 54.8 g/d; P<0.001). Early restricted rabbits did not reach the Spanish commercial weight (2 kg) at 63 d of age and weighed less than full-fed rabbits (1989 vs. 1888 g; P=0.001). Moreover, feed restriction did not improve FCR in the whole fattening period (2.56 on average). The second trial was extended until 70 d to permit restricted rabbits to attain market weight. However, at that age, live weight of restricted rabbits was also lower than that of rabbits always fed ad libitum (2285 vs. 2101 g; P=0.001). In the first trial, no health problem was recorded (average mortality 1.04%) whereas in the second trial feed restriction allowed both mortality (25.6 vs. 6.34%, P=0.017) and morbidity (41.4 vs. 12.7%, P=0.004) to decrease. The higher number of losses in the second trial made economic FCR differ from scientific FCR (3.63 vs. 2.89, on average) in the 35¿70 d period. Moreover, morbidity increased heterogeneity of fattening performance. In conclusion, the interest of feed restriction in Spanish fattening rabbit farms is mitigated by the conventional market weight. Nevertheless, in a context with high rates of digestive troubles, a time-limited access to the feeder enhances health status on the farm and could justify the short delay necessary to reach slaughter weight.
Access status: Abierto ,
Effect of dietary soluble fibre level and protein source on growth, digestion, caecal activity and health of fattening rabbits
(World Rabbit Science. ICTA. UPV, 2010-12-30) Trocino, Angela; Fragkiadakis, M.; Radaelli, G.; Xiccato, Gerolamo; Ministero dell'Istruzione dell'Università e della Ricerca, Italia
[EN] From weaning (34 d of age) until slaughter (76 d), 216 hybrid rabbits were divided into six experimental groups and fed ad libitum six iso-protein (CP: 15.9% as-fed), iso-starch (9.1%) and iso-ADF (21.4%) diets formulated in a bi-factorial arrangement, with three soluble fibre levels (LS: 5.8% vs. MS: 7.4% vs. HS: 8.5%) and two protein sources (Soy: soybean meal vs. Sun: sunflower meal). The increase in dietary soluble fibre level linearly increased (PL<0.001) in vivo digestibility of dry matter (from 55.4 to 61.3%), gross energy and fibre fractions (from 14.8 to 25.7% for acid detergent fibre; from 40.3 to 49.2% for insoluble hemicelluloses; from 85.0 to 93.9% for soluble fibre). Replacing soybean with sunflower meal tended to decrease crude protein digestibility (73.1 vs. 72.6%, P=0.058) and reduced acid detergent fibre digestibility (22.0 vs. 18.4%, P<0.001), while improving ether extract digestibility (69.3 vs. 70.8, P<0.001). The nutritive values of the experimental diets increased with soluble fibre level (digestible energy from 9.0 to 9.9 MJ/kg) regardless of the protein source. Intestinal mucosa traits at 56 d of age were not affected, while caecal pH linearly decreased (from 6.19 to 5.97; PL=0.017) with increasing dietary soluble fibre. During the trial, health problems were moderate (mortality 3.4% and morbidity 15.6%) and not affected by feeding treatments. With increasing soluble fibre level, rabbit daily weight gain and final live weight linearly increased (PL=0.045) and feed conversion improved (from 3.55 to 3.30, PL<0.001). Protein source did not affect intestinal traits or growth performance. Slaughter results and meat quality were unaffected by feeding treatments.
Access status: Abierto ,
Clinical, pathological and microbiological profiles of spontaneous enteropathies in growing rabbits
(World Rabbit Science. ICTA. UPV, 2010-12-30) Badagliacca, P; Letizia, A.; Candeloro, L.; Di Provvido, A.; Di Gennaro, A.; Scattolini, S.; Pompei, G.; Pedicone, R.; Scacchia, M.; Unione Nazionale Associazioni Produttori Avi-cunicoli
[EN] In a rabbit production facility, health monitoring for enteropathies was performed in 15 production cycles for 20 mo. For each cycle, up to a hundred 35 d old rabbits weaned the same day were randomly selected, reared in the same fattening unit, but separately from the source batch and fed with the same feed except for antimicrobial supplementation. Clinical symptoms and enteric lesions of the selected group were recorded, using two checklists with binomial response (yes/no answer to a list of 54 clinical and enteric variables). The day after weaning, one week later, at the beginning of the enteric symptoms and 4-5 d after the start of the symptoms, inocula from the small intestine and caecum of selected animals were subjected to microbiological, C. spiroforme, Eimeria oocyst and rotavirus antigen detection tests. Representative samples of E. coli and C. perfringens isolates were tested, respectively, for serotype, biotype, eae, afr/2 genes and for a, b1, b2, e, i and enterotoxin toxin genes. The answers to the clinical-pathological variables were subjected to statistical analysis with a cluster analysis programme in order to obtain homogeneous, statistically significant groups of diseased animals (clusters). Then, the clusters were statistically associated with the laboratory outcomes. The cluster to which the enterotyphlitis lesions significantly contributed was associated with E. coli detection, E. coli O103 serotype detection and C. spiroforme ("several elements" variable). C. spiroforme ("rare elements" variable) was significantly associated with a cluster, characterised by a pathological profile consisting of bloating/rumbling noise and liquid content in stomach and caecum, without enteric inflammation. C. perfringens was significantly associated with a cluster, characterised by a pathological profile consisting of dilation/liquid content of small intestine, caecal impaction and mucoid content in the colon. Eighteen out of twenty-fi ve C. perfringens strains, examined for their toxin genotypes, proved to be toxin type A, while 7 out of 25 strains showed the a and b2 toxin genes in combination. The rotavirus antigen and Eimeria oocysts were detected from healthy rabbits (specimens of the day after weaning and one week later) in about 15% of specimens examined, but their presence in the sick animals was not significantly associated with any cluster.

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