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Body Composition in Suckling Rabbits¹

E.T.S. Ingenieros Agrónomos², Madrid, Spain

Abstract

Two hundred and one lots of suckling rabbits (103 of the Spanish Giant and 98 of the New Zealand breeds) were slaughtered at 0, 20, 25, 30 and 35 days of age and the energy, nitrogen, fat, water and ash contents of their bodies were determined. The rabbits suckled their mothers for 20 days. Afterwards they were offered four different starter feeds having two levels of acid detergent fiber (7 and 10%) and two levels of crude protein (17 and 20%).

Weight was a good predictor of body composition, except for fat content. Age influenced body composition and was highly correlated to weight. This influence was significant (P<.05) for every body constituent, except ash, at all ages. New Zealand suckling rabbits had higher total fat content (P<.001), total energy (P<.01) , and lower water content (P<.01), than Spanish Giant ones of equal weight and age. Neither sex nor starter fed composition influenced body composition.

Prediction of body composition based on fat, water, or protein contents was not better than that based on body weight.

¹ The authors are grateful to Mrs. P. Marin for her assistance in the statistical calculations and to Mr. J. Lora for his technical help.

² Departamento de Nutrici#x00F3;n Animal.