Pinheiro V, Outor-Monteiro D, Mourão J L, Cone J W, Lourenço A L
Animal and Veterinary Research Center (CECAV), Vila Real, Portugal.
Department of Animal Science, University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD), Vila Real, Portugal.
J Anim Physiol Anim Nutr (Berl). 2018 Feb;102(1):e460-e467. doi: 10.1111/jpn.12774. Epub 2017 Oct 6.
The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of the level of alfalfa in the diet on feed intake and digestibility of two types of rabbits, wild (Oryctolagus cuniculus algirus) vs. domestic (O. cuniculus cuniculus). Ten wild (W; mean LW = 927 g) and 10 domestic (D; mean LW = 4,645 g) adult rabbit does were fed ad libitum two pelleted diets: a control diet (C) with 15% of dehydrated alfalfa hay (as feed basis) and a test diet (A) with 36% of dehydrated alfalfa hay (as feed basis), according to a change-over design. Wild does dry matter (DM) intake per kg live weight (BW) was 55% higher (p < .001) than the intake of the D ones (58 g vs. 37 g DM per kg BW respectively). However, no difference (p > .05) was found when intake was expressed per kg BW (ca. 56 g DM) and tended to be higher (p = .07) in D does when expressed per kg BW (62 g vs. 55 g DM). Domestic does showed a higher (p < .05) DM, organic matter, crude energy and neutral detergent fibre digestibility (3; 2; 3; 3 percentage points respectively) than W does. The amount of nutrients and energy digested by D does was lower per kg BW (p < .001), similar per kg BW (p > .05) and tended to be higher per kg BW (p < .1) than in W does. The diet content of alfalfa did not affect (p > .05) the feed intake nor the diet digestibility. This study suggests that W rabbits exhibit a higher intake per kg BW and a lower digestibility than their D counterparts, which results in similar digestible nutrient and energy intake per kg BW powered to 0.75. The nutritive value of dehydrated alfalfa for rabbits, evaluated through intake and digestibility, seems to be equivalent to their base diets (forage plus concentrate).
本研究旨在评估日粮中苜蓿水平对两种类型兔子（野兔[穴兔阿尔及利亚亚种]与家兔[穴兔指名亚种]）采食量和消化率的影响。按照交替设计，给10只成年野兔（W；平均体重LW = 927克）和10只成年家兔（D；平均体重LW = 4645克）自由采食两种颗粒饲料：一种对照日粮（C），含有15%的脱水苜蓿干草（以饲料为基础），一种试验日粮（A），含有36%的脱水苜蓿干草（以饲料为基础）。每千克活体重（BW）的野兔干物质（DM）摄入量比家兔高55%（p < 0.001）（分别为每千克体重58克和37克DM）。然而，当以每千克体重表示摄入量时（约56克DM），未发现差异（p > 0.05），而当家兔以每千克体重表示摄入量时（62克与55克DM），摄入量有更高的趋势（p = 0.07）。家兔的干物质、有机物、粗能量和中性洗涤纤维消化率比野兔高（分别高3、2、3、3个百分点）（p < 0.05）。每千克体重家兔消化的养分和能量量比野兔低（p < 0.001），每千克体重时相似（p > 0.05），且每千克体重时有更高的趋势（p < 0.1）。日粮中苜蓿含量对采食量和日粮消化率没有影响（p > 0.05）。本研究表明，野兔每千克体重的摄入量高于家兔，消化率低于家兔，这导致每千克体重0.75次方的可消化养分和能量摄入量相似。通过采食量和消化率评估，脱水苜蓿对兔子的营养价值似乎与其基础日粮（草料加精料）相当。
