The effect of limited feed intake on carcase yield and meat quality in early weaned rabbits

Figures & data

Table 1. Chemical composition of the experimental diet.

Items	g/kg
Dry matter	928
Crude protein	175
Ether extract	30
Ash	78
Lignin, sa	59
NDF	394
ADF	210
Starch	143

NDF: neutral detergent fibre; ADF: acid detergent fibre.

Table 2. Effect of feed restriction on live weight, feed intake and daily weight gain.

	AL	R50	R65	SEM	p Value
Live weight at 25 days, g	510	514	510	5.74	.943
Live weight at 81 days, g	2893	2856	2788	41.02	.568
Daily weight gain, g/d
25 to 32 days of age	44.0	45.4	43.3	9.80	.681
32 to 39 days of age	53.4^a	32.4^b	36.0^b	14.00	<.001
39 to 46 days of age	48.6^b	57.1^a	53.2^ab	8.90	.007
46 to 53 days of age	46.3	47.1	45.7	10.60	.890
53 to 60 days of age	38.6	40.1	44.6	13.50	.280
60 to 67 days of age	34.4	40.8	35.0	11.70	.134
67 to 74 days of age	35.3	35.4	38.1	10.20	.571
74 to 81 days of age	39.7	44.6	46.0	10.60	.243
25 to 81 days of age	42.9	42.3	41.2	4.70	.567
25 to 81 days of age
Feed intake, g/d	133	129	127	1.30	.055
Feed conversion ratio, kg/kg	3.1	3.0	3.1	0.05	.553

Means within the same row with the different superscript letter are significantly different (p > .05).

Feed intake and feed conversion ratio were calculated as the average per one rabbit from the cage.

SEM: standard error of the mean; AL: ad libitum; R50: 50 g of feed per rabbit per day; R65: 65 g of feed per rabbit per day.

Table 3. Effect of feed restriction on the carcase characteristics of broiler rabbits.

Group	Age, days	Carcase weight, g	Dressing out, %	Hind part, %	Forepart, %	Loin, %	Hind leg, %	Hind leg meat, %	Perirenal fat, %
AL	39	600^b	53.5	52.7	47.3	15.0	30.8	10.6	1.0
	81	1521^a	60.1	55.8	44.1	17.7	31.4	11.8	2.4
R50	39	493^c	54.8	51.6	48.6	14.6	31.8	10.5	0.6
	81	1561^a	60.2	55.7	44.2	18.0	31.2	12.1	2.1
R65	39	517^bc	55.0	52.1	47.9	15.2	30.9	10.5	0.7
	81	1591^a	60.5	56.0	43.9	18.4	32.2	12.1	2.5
SEM		75.7	0.4	0.3	0.4	0.3	0.1	0.1	0.1
p Value
Group		.577	.283	.666	.614	.611	.420	.896	.136
Age		<.001	<.001	<.001	<.001	<.001	.161	<.001	<.001
Group × age		.047	.570	.786	.719	.820	.061	.508	.593

Means within the same row with the different superscript letter are significantly different (p > .05).

SEM: standard error of the mean; AL: ad libitum; R50: 50 g of feed per rabbit per day; R65: 65 g of feed per rabbit per day.

Table 4. Effect of feed restriction on selected meat quality characteristics.

Group	Age, days	Fmax, N	Cooking loss, %
AL	39	31.2	38.5
	81	30.9	29.3
R50	39	28.7	39.5
	81	32.7	28.1
R65	39	33.7	39.5
	81	35.2	29.1
SEM		0.7	0.7
p Value
Group		.082	.608
Age		.260	<.001
Group × age		.491	.141

SEM: standard error of the mean; F_max: maximum shear force; AL: ad libitum; R50: 50 g of feed per rabbit per day; R65: 65 g of feed per rabbit per day.

Table 5. Effect of feed restriction on musculus longissimus lumborum in broiler rabbits.

		Number of muscle fibres per 1 mm^2			Fibre cross-sectional area, µm^2			Diameter, µm			Perimeter, µm			Fibre type distribution, %
Group	Age, days	βR	αR	αW	βR	αR	αW	βR	αR	αW	βR	αR	αW	βR	αR	αW
AL	39	24	112	513	670^c	598	1371^c	28.7^c	27.1	40.1^d	99.7^c	93.8	144.9	3.4	17.4	79.2
	81	6	24	279	1846^a	1322	2747^b	48.3^a	40.3	57.7^b	167.3^a	146.2	211.1	2.3	8.0	89.8
R50	39	28	127	614	624^c	555	1232^d	27.8^c	26.1	38.3^e	92.7^c	90.2	137.7	3.5	16.8	79.7
	81	8	24	274	1246^b	1206	2669^b	38.4^b	38.1	55.8^c	135.5^b	136.7	203.6	2.3	7.7	90.0
R65	39	25	107	562	681^c	587	1298^cd	29.3^c	27.1	39.7^de	101.3^c	96.3	145.7	3.9	15.5	80.3
	81	9	25	229	1613^a	1369	3064^a	44.7^a	40.5	60.0^a	159.0^a	148.0	221.2	3.9	9.1	87.0
SEM		2.500	7.600	27.700	42	17.200	19.700	0.700	0.300	0.200	2.700	1.300	1.000	0.400	0.800	0.900
p Value
Group		.899	.370	.312	.002	<.001	<.001	<.001	<.001	<.001	<.001	<.001	<.001	.434	.886	.805
Age		<.001	<.001	<.001	<.001	<.001	<.001	<.001	<.001	<.001	<.001	<.001	<.001	.292	<.001	<.001
Group × age		.941	.485	.350	.001	.237	<.001	.002	.594	.015	.046	.518	.056	.772	.435	.355

Means within the same row with the different superscript letter are significantly different (p > .05).

SEM: standard error of the mean; AL: ad libitum; R50: 50 g of feed per rabbit per day; R65: 65 g of feed per rabbit per day.