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Fat Utilization by Rabbits¹

University of Florida^,4, Gainesville 32611

Abstract

Three feeding trials were conducted with rabbits to evaluate effects of graded levels of dietary fat upon growth and feed utilization. Semi-purified diets with 2.4 to 14.4% fat were fed in two studies and in a third trial, commercial feed (3.6% fat) was modified to contain 11.4% fat. Increasing dietary fat appeared to reduce voluntary feed intake in all trials, but significant mean differences were not observed. Weight gain tended to increase with increased fat, but a significant improvement was observed in only one trial (2.4 vs. 14.4% fat). Improvement in feed conversion was observed in all trials and protein required per unit gain was decreased with changes in fat from 2.4 to 6.4 or 8.2%. Digestibility of fat in diets with 11.4% fat (8.0% added corn oil) was 90.7% and in the basal diet with 3.6% fat, digestibility was 83.6%. The studies indicate that rabbits can utilize efficiently a larger amount of dietary fat than is normally included in practical diets.

¹ Florida Agricultural Experiment Stations, Journal Series No. 4898.

² Present address: Platt Dairy, Orlando, Florida 32807.

³ The authors acknowledge technical assistance of T. C. Beaty, Jr.

⁴ Department of Animal Science.