EFFECT OF ADDING ORGANIC ACIDS TO DRINKING WATER OF YOUNG RABBITS ON THEIR PRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE UP TO MARKETING AGE. | ||||
| Journal of Animal and Poultry Production | ||||
| Article 3, Volume 33, Issue 8, August 2008, Page 5561-5568 PDF (648.74 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/jappmu.2008.218893 | ||||
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| Authors | ||||
| H. T. Tag–EL-Din,1; Elsamra H. A. Abo–Egla2; Hadil A. Oraby2 | ||||
| 1Poult. Prod. Dept. Faculty of Agric., Damietta, Mansoura University. | ||||
| 2Poult. Prod. Dept. Faculty of Agric., Mansoura University | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| This study aimed to investigate effect of supplementing drinking water of growing New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits with organic acid (acetic, fumaric and ascorbic) on their productive performance, feed utilization and carcass traits. Forty -eight males of NZW rabbits at 7weeks of age were divided into 4 groups, 12 animals each. The experimental treatments were: no organic acids addition (Control), 0.5 ml acetic acid /liter drinking water (Acetic group), 0.5 ml fumaric acid /liter drinking water (Fumaric group) and 0.5 g ascorbic acid /liter drinking water (Ascorbic group). Feed and drinking water were offered ad libitum from 7-12 weeks ofage. The organic acids supplementation had no positive effects on live body weight at 12 weeks of age. The Acetic and Ascorbic groups showed nearly similar values of daily weight gain to the control group; however, that of Fumaric group was significantly (p≥0.01) less than the control. At 7-12 weeks, daily feed intake of Ascorbic group was comparable to that of the control group and both were significantly (p≥0.01) more than those of the Acetic and Fumaric groups. The best value of feed conversion at 7-12 weeks was recorded for the Acetic group while the poorest one was that of the Fumaric group with significant (p≥0.01) difference. The Acetic group was significantly (p≥0.05) superior in respect of protein conversion ratio at 7-12 weeks followed by Ascorbic, Control and then the Fumaric group in descending order. The Acetic group at all intervals needed less amount of digestible energy to gain one unit of live weight than the other three groups. The Fumaric acid showed significantly (p≥0.01) the poorest value performance index at all intervals among all groups. The addition of acetic acid to drinking water of rabbits resulted in better values of digestibility of all nutrients except CP than the Control group. The organic acids supplementation to drinking water of young rabbits had no obvious effects on total edible parts at 12 weeks of age. The obtained results showed that the addition of acetic acid; to drinking water of growing rabbits had some positive effects on productive performance of young NZW rabbits, however, the fumaric acid addition almost had negative effects. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| organic acids; rabbits; live body weight; carcass; digestibility; nutritive value; drinking water | ||||
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