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Effect of substitution of a soybean hull and grape seed meal mixture for traditional fiber sources on digestion and performance of growing rabbits and lactating does¹

Departamento de Producción Animal, E.T.S.I. Agrónomos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040 Madrid, Spain

	Abstract

Top Abstract INTRODUCTION MATERIALS AND METHODS RESULTS AND DISCUSSION IMPLICATIONS LITERATURE CITED

 
The aim of this work was to determine what concentration of a mixture of soybean hulls and defatted grape seed meal (SHDG) could be included in diets that meet or exceed ADL and particle size requirements for rabbits. Four isonitrogenous and isofibrous pelleted diets were formulated, with similar ADL concentration and particle size (18.3% CP, 42.6% NDF, 7.1% ADL, and 34.9% of particles larger than 0.315 mm, on a DM basis). Diets contained a constant ratio of soybean hulls:defatted grape seed meal (81:19) provided at 0, 13.3, 26.7, or 40% SHDG, which was substituted for a 35:35:30 mixture of alfalfa hay, sunflower hulls, and wheat straw. Thirty-six rabbits were used to determine nutrient digestibility and cecotrophy traits. A feeding trial was carried out using 160 weanling rabbits (30 d of age; 536 ± 7.1 g). Milk production was measured in 56 rabbit does. Increasing concentrations of SHDG in the diet did not affect digestibilities of DM, GE, or NDF or DE that were on average 54.7, 55.2, and 21.6% and 10.2 MJ/kg of DM, respectively. Digestibility of CP decreased in diets containing 40% (P = 0.002) and 26.7% (P = 0.054) SHDG compared with diets containing a lower percent of SHDG. Daily recycling of CP through cecotrophy, an indicator of microbial protein production, was not affected by SHDG inclusion. Growing rabbits fed 40% SHDG had reduced ADFI and ADG compared with rabbits fed 26.7% SHDG or less (106 vs. 113, 111, or 111 g/d, and 35.8 vs. 37.8, 36.6, or 37.6 g/d, respectively). There was no effect on G:F from adding SHDG to the diets. In the 2-wk period after weaning, ADG decreased (P = 0.031) for rabbits fed 40% SHDG compared with rabbits fed 26.7% SHDG or less (28.4 vs. 32.2, 30.8, of 32.2 g/d), with no effect on ADFI or G:F. Type of diet did not influence mortality during the fattening period, which averaged 6.25%. Rabbit does fed 40% SHDG had reduced ADFI (411 vs. 430 g/d; P = 0.023) compared with rabbits fed 26.7% SHDG or less, with no effect (P > 0.11) on milk production, weight of the litter at 21 d and at weaning (30 d), or parturition-effective mating interval. In conclusion, SHDG can be included up to 26.7% in diets for fattening rabbits and lactating does that meet ADL and particle size requirements.

Key Words: defatted grape seed meal • digestion • growth • lactation • rabbit • soybean hull

	INTRODUCTION

Top Abstract INTRODUCTION MATERIALS AND METHODS RESULTS AND DISCUSSION IMPLICATIONS LITERATURE CITED

 
Fiber requirements of rabbits are defined by the dietary concentration (NDF) and the type (% ADL in NDF, and particle size) of insoluble fiber (De Blas and Mateos, 1998; De Blas et al., 1999). Dietary concentrations of NDF, ADL, and large particles ( > 0.315 mm) lower than those required increase the accumulation of digesta in the cecum and impair ADFI and performance (García et al., 2002a). Alfalfa hay is considered a balanced source of fiber (García et al., 1995a,b) to meet requirements of rabbits, and it is often included up to 30% in commercial feeds for rabbits.

Soybean hulls (SH) could be an alternate source of fiber that could partially replace alfalfa hay. It is characterized by a high concentration of insoluble fiber with a low lignin concentration and a significant proportion of soluble fiber. The low lignin and high soluble fiber concentration of SH makes it a good substrate for intestinal microbiota (García et al., 1999, 2000). These characteristics account for its valuable energy supply for rabbits (García et al., 1997). However, feeding 22 to 40% SH has led to a decrease of ADFI and performance in growing rabbits and lactating does. It was explained by the accumulation of digesta in the cecum, an increased digesta retention time, which may be due to the reduction of dietary ADL concentration produced when SH increased (Nicodemus et al., 1999; Gidenne et al., 2001). In another herbivore, the horse, the inclusion of 75% SH (reducing dietary ADL) decreased feed intake, but no negative effects were reported below this concentration (Coverdale et al., 2004).

The negative effects of high concentration of dietary SH might be alleviated through the combined incorporation with defatted grape seed meal, a rich lignin ingredient that was characterized by a short retention time in the gut, which improved ADFI and ADG of growing rabbits when it was included at 15% in the diet (García et al., 2002b). However, the combination of SH with defatted grape seed meal has not been tested previously.

The aim of this work was to determine what concentration of a mixture of soybean hulls:defatted grape seed meal (SHDG) could be included in diets for rabbits that meet or exceed ADL and particle size requirements.

	MATERIALS AND METHODS

Top Abstract INTRODUCTION MATERIALS AND METHODS RESULTS AND DISCUSSION IMPLICATIONS LITERATURE CITED

 
Animals were handled according to the principles for the care of animals in experimentation published by the Spanish Royal Decree 1201/2005 (2005), and the experiments were approved by the Committee of Ethics of the Animal Production Department of the Technical University of Madrid.

Experimental Diets

Four isofibrous, isoenergetic, and isonitrogenous pelleted diets that met or exceeded the known requirements of protein, essential AA, carbohydrates, and micronutrients of lactating does and growing rabbits (De Blas and Mateos, 1998) were formulated by substituting a 33, 66, and 100% of a mixture of alfalfa hay, sunflower hulls, and wheat straw (35:35:30, respectively) with a mixture of SHDG (81% SH:19% defatted grape seed meal) at 0, 13.3, 26.7, or 40% of the diet. Dietary ADL and particle size were maintained above previous recommendations (De Blas et al., 1999). The ingredients, chemical composition, and particle size of the experimental diets are shown in Table 1.

One hundred sixty New Zealand x Californian, weanling, mixed-sex rabbits that were 30 d old (40/treatment) and had BW of 536 ± 7.1 g were blocked by litter, and rabbits of each litter were assigned at random to the experimental diets. The rabbits were caged individually and offered ad libitum access to the feed. The rabbits were removed from the experiment when they reached slaughter weight (2.00 ± 0.003 kg of BW). Feed intake and weight of the rabbits were recorded 14 d after weaning and at the end of the experimental period.

Digestibility Trial

A group of 36 mixed-sex, New Zealand x Californian, finishing rabbits (9/treatment), with BW of 1.70 ± 0.045 kg were selected at random between 60 and 65 d of age to determine the apparent fecal digestibility of DM, GE, CP, and NDF. After a 3-d period of adaptation to metabolism cages, the feed intake (ad libitum access) and the total fecal output were recorded daily for each rabbit over a 4-d period (cecotrophy allowed). All feces produced by each animal were mixed together and stored at – 20°C. After collections were completed, feces were dried at 80°C for 48 h and ground through a 1-mm screen (Retsch, Ultracentrifugal type ZM1, F. Kurt Retsch Gmbh & Co., Haan, Germany).

Cecotrophy Trial

Two days after the end of the digestibility trial, the 36 animals (9/diet), with BW of 2.00 ± 0.070 kg of BW, were fitted for 24 h with a wooden collar (25-cm diam.) at 0800 (at the beginning of the cecotrophy period), which was 30 min after the light came on. Collars were placed on each animal to avoid soft feces intake (an indicator of cecal fermentation activity). Soft feces were collected, weighed, and stored at – 20°C to determine daily production, and afterwards freeze-dried and ground through a 1-mm screen. Feed intake of animals was recorded for a 3-d period before collaring. Seven days after removing the collar, the above procedure was repeated. Average soft feces production per animal in the 2 periods was used for statistical analysis.

Lactation Trial

Fifty-six New Zealand x Californian, multiparous rabbit does (14/treatment) with BW of 3.99 ± 0.033 kg were blocked by parity (3.00 ± 0.26, 2.93 ± 0.19, 3.07 ± 0.29, and 3.07 ± 0.27 parturitions at the beginning of the experiment for diets with 0, 13.3, 26.7, or 40% SHDG, respectively) and assigned to the experimental diets. Does were allowed a 60-d adaptation period to their respective diet before breeding for the 3 consecutive lactations of this study. Remating interval was fixed at 4 d after parturition, and the weaning age was 30 d. Natural mating was performed using 1 buck/9 rabbit does. Pregnancy was determined by abdominal palpation 10 d after mating.

The experimental diets were offered for ad libitum intake in late pregnancy (d 28 until parturition) and throughout lactation, and restricted to 150 g/d from weaning until d 28 of gestation. Does were separated from their litters after parturition by closing the access to the litter nest. Milk production was estimated daily from weight loss of does during suckling. Nests were opened 10 min/d, and does were weighed just before and after suckling. At 21 d of lactation, litters were moved from their nests to cages where they were offered ad libitum access to the experimental diets, and they were also allowed to stay with their mother for 10 min/d for suckling until the age of weaning (30 d). Litter size was not balanced. Feed intake of does was determined separately from that of the young rabbits. Litter growth and feed intake were recorded from 21 d of age until weaning. Average performance per rabbit and litter from 3 consecutive lactations was used for statistical analysis.

Housing

During the entire trial, growing rabbits and rabbit does were housed in different buildings, in which the temperature was partially controlled and maintained in the range 18 to 27°C or 18 to 24°C, respectively. Growing animals were housed in flat-deck wire cages measuring 250 x 600 x 330-mm high, whereas those of lactating does measured 500 x 600 x 330-mm high. Digestibility was performed in wire metabolism cages measuring 405 x 510 x 320-mm high that allowed separation of feces and urine. All cages were equipped with a nipple drinker and an ad libitum feeder. A cycle of 12 h of light and 12 h of dark was used throughout the growth trial, whereas rabbit does followed a cycle of 16 h of light and 8 h of dark.

Analytical Methods

Chemical analysis of diets and feces used the method of Van Soest et al. (1991) for NDF, and Goering and Van Soest (1970) for ADF and ADL. Determination of NDF was done directly and corrected by its ash content, whereas ADF and ADL were extracted successively and corrected by ash content of the ADL residue. A Fibertec system (Tecator, Höganäs, Sweden) was used to determine NDF and ADF. Procedures of the AOAC (2000) were used for DM (oven drying method 934.01) using an oven (Memmet Gmbh & Co KG, Schwabach, Germany), ash (muffle furnace incineration, method 967.05) using a muffle (Hobersal 12-PR/300 serie B, Caldes de Montbui, Spain) and CP (Kjeldahl method 976.05) using a digestor 20/40 and a Kjeltec Auto 1030 Analyzer (Tecator, Höganäs, Sweden). Gross energy was determined in an adiabatic calorimeter (IKA C-400, Werke, Janke & Knunkel, Staufen, Germany). Distribution of particle size of the diets was determined on 3 samples by wet sieving according to García et al. (1999) in a siever Filtra 200 (Filtra S.A., Barcelona, Spain). Chemical analyses of diets and feces were repeated 3 and 2 times, respectively.

Statistical Analysis

Data from the growth trial were analyzed as a completely randomized block design with litter as block and type of diet as the main source of variation by using the GLM procedure (SAS Inst. Inc., Cary, NC). Data from digestibility, cecotrophy, and lactation trials were analyzed as a completely randomized design with type of diet as the main source of variation. Individual fattening and doe rabbits were the experimental units. Weaning weight for the growth trial and the number of weaned rabbits and the parturition-effective mating interval for the lactation trial were included as linear covariates. All data are presented as least-squares means. All mean comparisons were made using pre-planned orthogonal contrasts. Interactions between type of diet and period of lactation were studied using a repeated measures analysis.

	RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Top Abstract INTRODUCTION MATERIALS AND METHODS RESULTS AND DISCUSSION IMPLICATIONS LITERATURE CITED

 
Digestibility Trial

Increasing dietary concentration of SHDG did not affect DMI, apparent fecal digestibilities of DM and GE and DE concentration (Table 2). The digestibility of CP was decreased when 40% SHDG were fed compared with rabbits fed diets with lower concentrations of SHDG (P = 0.002). Rabbits fed 26.7% SHDG had decreased CP digestibility compared with those fed a lower percent of SHDG (P = 0.054). A similar effect has been observed previously in our laboratory with rabbits (Nicodemus et al., 1999) and by Coverdale et al. (2004) with horses. This decrease in CP digestibility may be related to the high proportion of protein linked to fiber in SHDG mixture because 43 to 45% of the CP of SHDG maybe linked to NDF according to previous results from our laboratory (García et al., 1999, 2002b). Apparent fecal digestibility of NDF was reduced (P = 0.053) when 13.3% SHDG were fed compared with 0% SHDG inclusion. However, other inclusions did not affect this trait (22.3% on average). The dietary concentrations of ADL and particle size in this experiment assure a short cecal fermentation time and obviously a high degree of lignification of NDF, which would account for the relatively low efficiency of NDF digestion of SH. This is in agreement with previous studies (DePeters et al., 1997; Hall et al., 1998; Escalona et al., 1999) with ruminants, which have shown that the extent of NDF degradation of SH is very high after 72 h of fermentation (94%), but also that the degradation rate of its potentially degradable NDF fraction (99.9%) is relatively low (0.038/h). In contrast, when dietary ADL content decreased in rabbit diets because of an increase of SH inclusion (Nicodemus et al., 1999; Gidenne et al., 2001) or because of the inclusion of other fibrous ingredients (Gidenne et al., 2004), a linear increase of accumulation of digesta in the cecum and mean retention time of digesta through the gut was observed.

Treatments did not affect (P > 0.15) DMI of rabbits 3 d before the placement of the collar, daily soft feces excretion, CP concentration in soft feces, and the CP recycled daily through cecotrophy that were on average 137 g/d, 24.9 g of DM, 23.9%, and 5.9 g/d, respectively. Microbial N in soft feces is positively correlated with its total N concentration (García et al., 2000). Therefore, these results suggest that SHDG does not affect cecal microbial activity. This is in agreement with the lack of a significant effect on NDF digestibility observed in this study and the absence of negative effect on cecal fermentation described by García et al. (2002b).

Growth Trial

The ADG during the fattening period decreased by 4.1% (P = 0.033) when rabbits were fed the diet with 40% SHDG compared with the diets containing 26.7% SHDG or less (Table 3), with no effect below these concentrations (Table 3). This is in parallel to the 5.1% decrease in ADFI (P = 0.006). Feed efficiency was not altered, but duration of fattening tended to increase (P = 0.062) by 1.2 d with the 40% SHDG diet compared with diets with lower SHDG concentrations. Type of diet did not affect (P > 0.19) growth traits in the whole fattening period, when dietary concentration of SHDG were below 26.7%, but mortality tended to be higher (P = 0.066) in animals fed 13.3% SHDG compared with those fed the diet with 0% SHDG. Effects of treatments were similar in the 2 wk-period after weaning, but no effect on ADFI was detected. However, from 14-d after weaning until the end of fattening (2 kg of BW), animals fed the diet with 40% SHDG had reduced ADFI by 5.7% (P = 0.024) and increased G:F by 4.8% (P = 0.045), with no effect on ADG, compared with animals fed lower concentrations of SHDG. These results generally agree with those obtained in our previous work (Nicodemus et al., 1999) with the same concentration of fiber (43.3% NDF on a DM basis) and an adequate proportion of large particles ( > 0.315 mm; 30.2% on a DM basis), where the inclusion of SH led to a decrease of dietary ADL, as defatted grape seed meal was not supplemented. However, Nicodemus et al. (1999) observed that mortality increased and ADFI showed a greater decrease, whereas G:F increased slightly when the diet with the highest concentration of SH (40%) and 3.3% ADL (on a DM basis) was compared with diets containing less than 27% SH with 4.1% ADL or more. These results are similar to the findings of Gidenne et al. (2001) feeding diets with a lower NDF concentration (33.8% on a DM basis), which observed a linear reduction of ADFI (11.5%) and ADG (6.2%) and an increased mortality and morbidity when SH were included at 22.5% and dietary ADL was 2.8% (DM basis). Similarly, Gidenne et al. (2004) reported in rabbits a reduction of ADFI, an increase of G:F, and an impairment of the health status of the animals (mortality and morbidity) when dietary ADL was reduced from 5.3 to 3.7% (DM basis) in diets with 30% NDF (DM basis). In horses, ADFI also decreased when the concentration of SH increased and ADL decreased (Coverdale et al., 2004). Although not tested, data from the present experiment suggest beneficial effects of dietary defatted grape seed meal addition on rate of passage and ADFI as previously reported by García et al. (2002b). Defatted grape seed meal minimizes the negative influence observed by Nicodemus et al. (1999) and Gidenne et al. (2001) of low ADL concentrations (resulting from high dietary concentrations of SH) on growth performance, due to its higher dietary ADL concentration. However, it is important to point out that other fiber sources rich in ADL, like sunflower hulls or paprika meal (rich and poor in particles > 0.315 mm, respectively), failed to exert the same positive effect of defatted grape seed meal inclusion on ADFI (Nicodemus et al., 2002, 2006).

The ADFI were reduced by an average of 4.4% in does fed 40% SHDG compared with does fed lower dietary percent of SHDG (P = 0.023; Table 4). No indicator of lactation success was altered by the concentration of SHDG in the diet. No interaction (data not shown) was found between type of diet and period of lactation on any of the traits studied (P > 0.70).

The comparison of these results with those obtained by Nicodemus et al. (1999) suggests again the higher ADL requirements of rabbit does compared with those of growing rabbits to maximize performance. It is in agreement with the higher total NDF requirements observed for lactating does (35.5% DM basis; De Blas et al., 1995) with respect to growing rabbits (28.1%; De Blas et al., 1986). However, practical recommendations for minimal fiber (NDF and ADL) content are usually lower for adult than for fattening diets (De Blas and Mateos, 1998) because of the need to prevent a decrease in health status of the fattening animal. These higher lignin and fiber requirements of lactating does might be related to their higher energy requirements per unit of BW with respect to growing rabbits; both are factors that enhance rate of passage and then intake capability (Nicodemus et al., 1999; Gidenne, 1994; Gidenne et al., 2004). Finally, it is important to remark that another important factor influencing rate of passage and ADFI is particle size, and Nicodemus et al. (2006) observed that rabbit does reduced ADFI and performance when proportion of large particles ( > 0.315 mm) was lower than 21%, in spite of the increase of dietary ADL, which would suggest a greater influence of particle size than lignin concentration on these traits.

	IMPLICATIONS

Top Abstract INTRODUCTION MATERIALS AND METHODS RESULTS AND DISCUSSION IMPLICATIONS LITERATURE CITED

 
The mixture (81:19) of soybean hulls and defatted grape seed meal may constitute an alternative source of fiber for rabbits fed high fibrous fattening and lactation diets that meet or exceed the acid detergent lignin and particle size recommendations.

	Footnotes

 
¹ Financial support was provided by the American Soybean Association and a PETRI Project (95-0189-OP) in collaboration with KOIPE S.A. and COREN S.C.L.

² Corresponding author: nuria.nicodemus{at}upm.es

Received for publication July 8, 2005. Accepted for publication July 5, 2006.

	LITERATURE CITED

Top Abstract INTRODUCTION MATERIALS AND METHODS RESULTS AND DISCUSSION IMPLICATIONS LITERATURE CITED

 


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This Article Abstract Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Nicodemus, N. Articles by De Blas, J. C. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Nicodemus, N. Articles by De Blas, J. C.