Journal
MEAT SCIENCE
Volume 70, Issue 4, Pages 573-577Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.meatsci.2005.02.006
Keywords
rabbit; doe; feed rationing; muscle; fibre type
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Thirty hybrid female rabbits of 15 weeks of age were divided into three groups and fed for 8 weeks (until the first parturition) on one of the three following diets: C diet (DE = 11.71 MJ/kg DM) fed ad libitum; R diet was the C diet fed at 80% of ad libitum, F diet rich in fibre (24.6% vs 18.7% for C diet; DE = 9.77 MJ/kg DM) fed ad libitum. Afterwards, all the does received the C diet ad libitum. One pup per litter was slaughtered at birth, one at 35 d (weaning) and one at 81 d of age. At the second parturition, another pup per litter was slaughtered at birth. Ten minutes post mortem the Longissinius lumborum (LL) muscle was sampled and the mean cross-sectional area, compactness index (CI) and sphericity of the fibres of the new-born rabbits were determined; oil rabbits of 35 and 81 d of age the fibre type distribution (beta R, alpha R or alpha W) was also measured. The two maternal rationed-diets significantly increased the Cl of LL fibres of new-born rabbits of the first kindling, compared to the C diet. On weaning rabbits the greatest effect of maternal feed rationing was observed on the percentage of alpha W fibres (P < 0.01), which was the highest for the F diet (85.2%), intermediate for the C diet (78.0%) and the lowest for the R diet (71.8%). At 81 d of age, no effect of maternal dietary treatment was found on offspring. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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