The use of marine plants for growing rabbits

摘要

Thisstudyaimedtointroducemarineplantsintoconcentratemixturesinordertoproducerabbitmeat.Twospecies,RuppiamaritimaandChaetomorphalinumwereincorporatedinconcentrateformula(14and27%),withbarley,wheatbran,strawandsoybeanmeal,themixtures(R14,R27,C14,C27)werepelletedwithspecificlaboratoryinstrumentandgivenadlibitumto30New-Zealandrabbitsdividedinto5equalgroups.Commercialpelletswereusedascontrol.Feedintake,growthrateandslaughterperformancesofrabbitsweredeterminedbymeasuringdailyrefusals,weeklyanimalweightsandcarcassqualityafterslaughtering.ThetwomarinespeciesstudiedwereveryrichonmineralsmainlyontraceelementsasIronandManganese.Crudeproteinandcrudefibrecontentsofcontrolandexperimentalpelletsaveragedrespectively19and13.5%DM.Inthecontrast,ashvaluesofthemarineplantconcentrateswerehigherthanthatofthecontrolone.Youngrabbitsaveraged1264gofweightatthebeginningoftheexperienceandtheeffectofthedietonthefinalweightswashighlysignificant.Rabbitsfedtheexperimentaldietshadlowerdailyfeedintakesthanthosefedthecontrolone.However,averagedailygainsweresimilarbetweenthecontrolandR14groupsbutsignificantlyhigherthanthoseofC14andC27.Feedconversionratiovariedfrom2.05withR15dietto3.42withthecontrolone,thedifferenceamongallthegroupswasnotsignificant.Hotcarcassweightswerehighlyaffectedbythediets,thevaluesvariedrespectivelyfrom1519gwiththecontrolgroupto815withC14.Thecarcassyieldaveraged48.75%betweencontrol,R14,R27andC14diet,thisyieldwassignificantlyhigherthanthatreleasedbytheanimalseatingC27pellets.ThespeciesRuppiamaritimagavethebestperformances,evenatanincorporationrateof27%intothediet.AparticularattentionmustbetakentothemineralcompositionofthemixturesmainlythosebasedonthespeciesChaetomorphawhichshowednegativeresultswithanincorporationrateof27%intothediet.