INFLUENCE OF DIETARY PUMPKIN SEED POWDER SUPPLEMENTATION ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE, NUTRIENT DIGESTIBILITY, BLOOD CONSTITUENTS AND CARCASS TRAITS OF GROWING RABBITS | ||||
| Egyptian Poultry Science Journal | ||||
| Article 5, Volume 43, Issue 4, December 2023, Page 663-682 PDF (665.43 K) | ||||
| Document Type: Original Article | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/epsj.2023.332577 | ||||
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| Authors | ||||
Bahaa Mohamed Abou-Shehema 1; Rawia S. Hamed2; Mona R.M. Ahmed; Hossam Shahba 3
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| 1Animal Production Research Institute, poultry nutrition specialist, Agriculture Research Center, Egypt | ||||
| 2Anim. Prod. Res. Instit., Agri. Res .Center, Giza, Egypt | ||||
| 3Rabbit, Turkey and Waterfowl Research Department, Animal Production Research Institute, Agriculture Research Center, Giza, Egypt. | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| This research was performed to determine the influence of dietary addition of pumpkin seed powder (PKSP) comparable to zinc oxide (ZnO) on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, caecal bacterial count, some blood metabolites and slaughter traits of growing V-line rabbits during 35-91 days of age. A total of one hundred V-line rabbits aged 35 days were randomly divided into five homogeneous groups of five replicates with four rabbits per each (20 rabbits/group). The first group was fed a basal diet without any additives and assigned as a control group. The rabbits of second group were fed a basal diet supplied with zinc oxide (ZnO, 100 mg/kg diet), while the 3rd, 4th, and 5th groups were fed a basal diet enhanced with varying levels of PKSP (0.05, 0.1, and 0.2%), respectively. Results indicated that growing rabbits fed basal diet with 0.1% PKSP had significant improvements in final body weight, body weight gain, fed conversion ratio, performance index and economic efficiency compared with those for the rest groups. Digestibility coefficient of crude protein and crude fiber and digestible crude protein for growing rabbits fed basal diet supplied with 0.1% PKSP or ZnO were significantly improved compared with other treated groups. Moreover, rabbits fed basal diet with 0.1 and 0.2% PKSP showed a significant diminish in caecal Escherichia coli counts and a significant rise in lactobacillus sp. counts compared with the rest groups. Red blood cell count, haemoglobin, blood packed cell volume and lymphocyte percent for rabbits fed basal diet with 0.1 and 0.2% PKSP or ZnO were substantially increased compared with the control group. In addition, growing rabbits fed diets with 0.2% PKSP or ZnO had a significant diminish in serum total lipids, triglycerides and cholesterol values compared with control. Furthermore, supplied diets with studied agents significantly decreased serum levels of LDL, AST, ALT, urea, creatinine and MDA, whereas HDL and TAC levels were statistically increased compared with control. Dressing percent, hot carcass weight and total edible parts for growing rabbits fed diets with 0.1% PKSP were substantially improved compared with the rest groups. In conclusion, supplementing the diet of growing rabbits with 0.1% PKSP could be a good tool for optimizing growth performance, nutrient digestibility, caecal bacterial count and slaughtering traits, with the best record of economic efficiency. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Growing rabbits; Pumpkin; Zinc oxide; Productive performance; Digestibility | ||||
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