World Rabbit Science - Vol. 12 (4)-2004
Permanent URI for this collection
Tabla de contenidos
- Effects of different light intensities on quality of spermatozoa in rabbits
- Degradation of dietary oligofructose and inulin in the gastro-intestinal tract of the rabbit and the effects on caecal pH and volatile fatty acids.
- Influence of open-air rearing on fatty acid composition and sensory properties of rabbit meat.
- The effect of stocking density and feeder types on the performance of growing rabbits under conditions prevailing in Cameroon.
- Critical points in the transport of commercial rabbits to slaughter in Spain that could compromise animals' welfare.
Browse
Recent Submissions
- PublicationCritical points in the transport of commercial rabbits to slaughter in Spain that could compromise animals' welfare(World Rabbit Science. ICTA. UPV, 2004) Buil, T.; María, G. A.; Villarroel, M.; Liste, G.; López, M.; Ministerio de Ciencia y Tecnología[EN] The welfare of commercial rabbits depends on the attitudes and handling procedures used by farmers, hauliers and abattoir personnel, as well as the transport logistics. Many studies have been performed on commercial rabbit production but less attention has been paid to identifying critical points during the whole transport procedure. In this study, a survey of rabbit transport was performed in Spanish abattoirs to determine the parts of the process that most compromise the animal's welfare. Data were collected for the methods for loading, unloading, transporting, holding and slaughter. Handling procedures differ widely among farms, especially regarding cage size (ranging from 1430 cm² to 10000 cm²). Loading facilities were adequate and transport time was short. Only a few hauliers had received specific training courses. The average time before the unloading was short (4.5±13.8 min) but holding time before slaughter was usually longer than one hour and varied widely between abattoirs (ranging from 0 min to 420 min).
- PublicationThe effect of stocking density and feeder types on the performance of growing rabbits under conditions prevailing in Cameroon(World Rabbit Science. ICTA. UPV, 2004) Mbanya, J. N.; Ndoping, B. N.; Fomunyam, R. T.; Noumbissi, A.; Mbomi, E.S.; Fai, E.N.; Teguia, A.; Institut de Recherche Agronomique de Développement, Camerún[EN] Weaned rabbits fed with a maize based diet supplemented with Guatemala grass were used in a factorial experiment to compare the effects of stocking rate (5 vs 10 per m²) and feeder type on production parameters and mortality over an 8 week period under Cameroon conditions. Stocking rate did not affect (p>0.05) feed intake, feed conversion efficiency or mortality rates. Increasing the number of animals from 2 to 4 in a cage resulted in a significant decrease in daily weight gain (P<0.05) and final body weight (p<0.01) and a significant (P<0.01) increase in the amount of feed wasted. The type of feeder had no significant (P>0.05) effect on feed intake, growth rate, feed conversion efficiency or mortality rate. However, feed wastage was significantly (P<0.01) affected by feeder type and was greatest with the metallic J-feeder. The sex of the animal did not affect (P>0.05) any of the parameters measured. The interaction between sex, feeder type, and cage density had a significant (P<0.01) effect only on feed wastage. The results of the study showed that rearing rabbits in pairs per cage and using a cylindrical metallic tin feeder would enhance faster growth and reduce the amount of feed wasted.
- PublicationInfluence of open-air rearing on fatty acid composition and sensory properties of rabbit meat(World Rabbit Science. ICTA. UPV, 2004) Cavani, C.; Bianchi, M.; Petracci, M.; Toschi, T.G.; Parpinello, G.P.; Kuzminsky, G.; Morera, P.; FINZI, A.; Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, Italia[EN] A study was conducted to evaluate the fatty acid (FA) composition and sensory properties of meat from rabbits housed in the open-air in movable colony cages on pasture during the fattening period. A total of 60 rabbits were reared using conventional husbandry practises and subsequently divided into two groups at a live weight of about 2.0 kg and at 62 days old. The indoor group was kept in conventional bi-cellular cages (2 animals per cage, 0.07 m2 per rabbit), while the open-air group was reared in movable colony cages (6 animals per cage, 0.17 m2 per rabbit) on a polyphyta natural pasture. The grass was cut on the pasture prior to moving the cages so that the rabbits would not be able to eat the grass. Both groups were fed ad libitum a commercial diet for fattening rabbits. The rabbits were slaughtered when 13 weeks old. Fourteen carcasses from each experimental group were randomly collected and hind leg and loin meat were used to determine the intramuscular lipid content, FA composition and sensory attributes. Rabbits housed open-air in movable cages exhibited lower carcass weight (1110 vs 1243 g; P<0.01) and lipid content of the hind leg meat (3.61 vs 5.18%; P<0.01) as well as a higher content of PUFA (36.9 vs 32.5%; P<0.05) and arachidonic acid (5.9 vs 1.9%; P<0.05). However, no differences were found in the n-6/n-3 PUFA ratio. The quantitative descriptive analyses of the meat (Longissimus lumborum muscle) sensory properties did not show any differences between the experimental groups.
- PublicationDegradation of dietary oligofructose and inulin in the gastro-intestinal tract of the rabbit and the effects on caecal pH and volatile fatty acids(World Rabbit Science. ICTA. UPV, 2004) Maertens, L.; Aerts, J.M.; De Boever, J.; Beneo-Orafti, S.A.[EN] Three experimental fattening diets were each fed ad libitum to 12 animals of 8-9 weeks of age (initial weight 2,257 ± 87 g). The diets contained 0% (Control), 2% oligofructose (OF) (Raftifeed(R) OPS) or 2% inulin (Raftifeed(R) IPS). After an adaptation period of 10 days, the individually caged rabbits received the same diets with Cr2O3 as a marker. For the 24 h before they were euthanised (between 08:30 and 09:00), rabbits wore a plastic collar to prevent caecotrophy. Dietary treatment affected gut acidity only in the caecum where a tendency to a reduced pH in the inulin-fed rabbits was observed. The total caecal concentration of volatile fatty acids was similar among dietary treatments but a significant (P<0.05) change occurred in inulin-fed rabbits with an increase of butyrate proportion (17.6, 20.2 and 22.6% for control, OF and inulin rabbits, respectively) at the expense of acetate (75.0, 72.3 and 70.1%, respectively). Fructans were not detected in the ileum, caecum or faeces of control rabbits, indicating that both types of oligosaccharides originating from the raw materials were degraded quickly. Significant amounts of the b(2-1)-fructans were still present in the ileum content of both OF and inulin fed rabbits (1.78 and 1.63% DM). Apparent ileal digestibility of fructans was 100% in control rabbits but significantly lower (P<0.01) in OF (35.3%) and inulin (49.2%) fed rabbits. The absence of fructans from caecal and faecal samples confirms their complete fermentation by the caecal microbial flora. However, with the methodology used (which increased variability) and the limited number of replicates (4 pooled samples/diet), no significant difference in the degradation due to the chain length of the inuline-type fructans was detected.
- PublicationEffects of different light intensities on quality of spermatozoa in rabbits(World Rabbit Science. ICTA. UPV, 2005) Besenfelder, U.; Theau-Clément, M.; Sabbioni, E.; Castellini, C.; Renieri, T.; HAVLICEK, V.; HUBER, T.; WETSCHER, F.; MÖSSLACHER, G.; BREM, G.[EN] The present study evaluated the effects of light intensity on semen production in rabbits. Bucks were allocated to two groups which were exposed to a lighting program (16L:8D) with different light intensities (Group 1: <100 Lux; Group 2: >200 Lux). Prior to the thirteen weeks duration of the examination period, bucks were adapted to the light system for two months and conditioned for semen collection for one month. There was no effect of light intensity on libido, concentration and motility of spermatozoa. However, there were more bucks in group 1 delivering ejaculate with the gel fractions (P = 0.0065) and more foreign particles were observed in the ejaculates (P = 0.0007) compared to male rabbits from group 2. The first week of semen collection also revealed a light intensity effect on spermatozoa obtained by swim-up procedure. The concentrations of spermatozoa from group 2 were higher than those from group 1 (P < 0.0001). This effect was only slightly visible for motility after swim-up (P = 0.067).