Influences of dietary herbal blend and feed restriction on growth, carcass characteristics and gut microbiota of growing rabbits

The objective of the present study was to determine the effect of feed restriction systems, herbal mixture and their interactions on growth performance, carcass traits, and microbial aspects of growing New Zealand White (NZW) rabbit kept from 5 to 13 weeks of age. A 3 x 4 factorial arrangement was performed, including three feed restriction systems (ad-libitum, 90%, and 80% of ad-libitum) and four dietary supplementation levels of herbal mix (0, 0.30%, 0.50% and 0.70%). A total number of 120 rabbits (male and female ratio 1:1) at five weeks of age were randomly allotted into twelve experimental groups (n = 10 each). Results showed a significant decrease in body weight, body weight gain and feed intake in restricted-fed rabbits compared to the control group (ad-libitum). HERBS levels significantly influenced the growth performance and carcass traits of rabbits. The herbal blend had a positive effect on reducing the population of pathogenic microorganisms and increasing the population of lactic acid bacteria. Conclusively, it could be concluded that the feed restriction system has beneficial effects in the improvement of feed conversion ratio (FCR), weight gain, and carcass traits. In addition, HERBS supplementation to the growing rabbits resulted in significant improvements in growth performance, carcass characteristics, and microbial aspects of rabbits kept from 5 to 13 weeks of age.

Automated summary

In the present study, the effects of different feed restriction systems, herbal mixture, and their interactions on the growth performance, carcass traits, and microbial aspects of growing New Zealand White rabbits from 5 to 13 weeks of age were investigated. Results showed that feed restriction systems and herbal mixture levels significantly influenced the growth performance, carcass traits, and microbial aspects of the rabbits. The findings suggest that both feed restriction and herbal supplementation have positive effects on the growth performance and health of rabbits.