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FEEDS & FEEDING OF RABBITDigestive system of rabbit085090The initial stages of rabbit digestion are the same as most mammals. When a rabbit eats, the food travels from the mouth, down the oesophagus, into the stomach, and on to the small intestine. The?small intestine?is responsible for absorbing the nutrients from the food. As food travels along it, enzymes break the food down into individual nutrients that are small enough to pass through the lining of the intestine and be absorbed into the blood stream. Enzymes can't breakdown fiber, so in most mammals the fiber portion of the food would travel on through the colon and be excreted as waste. However, in rabbits the?colon?sorts the fiber into two types, digestible and indigestible.Digestible fiber has nutrients locked away inside it, so the colon diverts it to the?caecumfor processing. The rabbit's cecum is proportionally the largest of any mammal. It is twice the length of the abdominal cavity and 40–60% of the total volume of the gastrointestinal tract? The cecum has 10 times the capacity of the stomach of the rabbit. The left over indigestible fiber doesn't contain any useable nutrients, but it is still essential to the digestive process, as it has helped carry the food through the digestive system. Its job is now complete, so the colon forms it into the hard round droppings the rabbit leaves in its litter tray and it passes out of the body as waste.Meanwhile, in the caecum, a colony of special bacteria ferment the digestible fiber, breaking it down to release the stored nutrients. The caecum can absorb some of the nutrients but most need to go back through the small intestine to be absorbed. To achieve this, the fermented fiber moves back into the colon, where it is coated in protective mucus, before being excreted from the body as special droppings, called cecotropes/cecotroph or cecal droppings. The rabbit eats these droppings (a process called coprophagy in general terms) so they pass through the digestive tract again. Because they are not waste material, they are not, strictly speaking, feces, although the term “soft feces” is used synonymously with “cecotroph(, soft green fecal pellets). The process of cecotroph ingestion isthus erroneously referred to as coprophagy. In their new format, the small intestine can easily absorb the nutrients.The cecotrophs are ingested by the rabbit directly from the rectum as a result of a neurologic licking response, and are swallowed whole without being chewed. These fecal pellets contain nearly three times of protein than hard faecal pellets. Coprohagy starts in young rabbits at 3 – 4 weeks of age when they start to take hay.Cecotrophy is influenced by light, ingestive patterns, and varies between captive and wild rabbits .In wild rabbits most of the cecotrophy occurs during daytime when rabbits are within their burrows. This is in contrast to the situation in captive rabbits, where most of the cecotroph ingestion occurs at night although it can occur at any time of the day or night .FEED REQUIREMENTS OF RABBITThe nutritional requirement of rabbits, as is in the case of other mammals, varies according to age and productive performance.To obtain effective feeding efficiency, diets should be formulated to meet the needs of animals of a particular age or stage of production.Most rabbit farms are not large enough to justify the use of different feeds, so it is a common practice to use just one diet for the entire herd. Since rabbit farming is becoming more intensive, it is suggested that rabbit producers should use at least two diets, a grower diet for fryers and a lactation diet for does.Rabbits like to eat green plants.However, during the times of yearwhen there are few fresh plants,rabbits can be fed dry orfresh plants.(a) Nutrient Requirements for GrowthCreep diets:Creep diets are those diet which are fed to baby since requirements for growth are highest in them. This is decreased with increase of age. Composition of a 22% Crude Protein Creep Diet?IngredientsComposition %Oats (ground)19.0Wheat (ground)10.0Barley (ground)10.0Wheat bran6.4Soybean meal12.0Rapeseed meal2.5Fish meal3.2Dehydrated alfalfa meal23.7Dried brewers yeast3.0Dried distillers solubles4.0Dried whey4.0Molasses1.0Salt, iodized0.5Vitamin,mineral premix0.775DL-methionine0.07Feed flavour0.05(b) Nutrition Requirement at WeaningMilk is the only food for baby rabbit up to the age of 15 to 21 days. The baby rabbits those can suckle used to survive and non-sucker may die. The rabbit keeper should ensure milk in does by providing plenty of water and food. The young rabbit will start to eat solid foods (grass, concentrate) along with mother’s milk from 15 to 21 days. After 21 days or so they eat more solids and suckle less. From weaning time onwards the rabbits should be provided with more green food, vegetables and concentrates. After weaning when as animals diet changes from milk to solid feeds. It is suggested that at weaning, a high-fibre, low-starch diet might be beneficial, followed by a switch to two weeks later to a high-starch diet; at which time the capacity of the animal to digest starch might be higher.For maximum production efficiency, a feeding system using a highly palatable, high-fiber diet at weaning with a switch to a high carbohydrate fattening ratio may be beneficial.(c) Requirement of Diets at Gestation/LactationLactating does have higher requirements for protein, energy, calcium and phosphorus than do fryers. For maximum production at least 18% CP is required. Since, does in commercial farm are simultaneously pregnant and lactating, the same diet can be used for both gestation and lactation. During periods when does are not with litters, restricted feeding should be practiced to avoid obesity.Peak lactation in rabbits occur 21 days post kindling. In does bred 24-48 hr. postpartum, milk production declines rapidly after 21 days of lactation, and the mammary glands prepare for the initiation of a new lactation period.Lactation Diets(2) in RabbitsIngredientComposition %Alfalfa meal40.0Ground barley20.25Wheat mill run20.0Soybean meal14.0Molasses3.0Fat1.5Dicalcium phosphate0.75Salt (trace, mineral)0.5Alfalfa meal30.0Ground oats26.5Ground barley23.0Soybean meal16.0Molasses3.0Dicalcium phosphate1.0Salt (trace, mineralized)0.5476251539240(e) Complementary DietsIn certain conditions, particularly with the small scale rabbit production, it may be desirable to feed hay or greens free of choice and supplement this diet with a restricted quantity of high energy, high protein concentrate.?Rabbit feed should contain at least 16% CP and 70% TDN.1. Feed ConsumptionDaily feed consumption is about 5% of body weight. Daily water consumption is about 10% of body weight. Lactating does will require more water and food. Clean fresh water should be made available at all times.2. Time of FeedingIt will be a wise proposition if the food is offered in a particular time of the day. All concentrate rations may be provided at 7 a.m. and 5 p.m. Fresh bulky feeds may be offered in the evening since the rabbit remains more active during that time. All kind of foods should be fresh, clean and free from dirt. Some Considerations on FeedingFresh grasses or legumes may be included in the ration to a level of 70%.50% legumes plus 50% grasses may afford minimum dietary requirement for resting does and bucks.Dustiness of mash may be avoided by adding water to moisten the feed slightly.Avoid acidity (sour) of feed since sour feed is not liked by rabbit.Clean and fresh water may be made available at all seasons.Does may not be fed with heavy diet right after kindling.Feed of does may be increased after 5-7 days of kindling.Abrupt change in the quality or quantity of feed may be avoided.Molasses at the rate of 5% may be added to the diet to increaseacceptability of the diet.A small quantity of hay/straw may be fed in addition to the compound feed to prevent boredom and to provide bulkiness.Rapeseed oil meal may be heated before inclusion in the diet. It may be fed below 15% levels in diet.High calcium diet may interfere with the acceptance of does to the offspring and thus may affect the growth of the litters, therefore diet should not contain excess calcium.Dry does, bucks and replacement stock may be fed pellet feeds once a day.Young rabbits in growing stages and lactating does may be fed free of choice by keeping grain/pellets in the feeder at all times.Good quality legumes may be kept before the rabbits in addition to pellet ration.1924050307340Carrots, green grass, spinach, turnip, lucerne, barseem etc. may be provided as good succulent feed for rabbits.Other feed stuffs such as kitchen wastes, spoilt milk, damaged fruits may be fed by small farmers but they should be fed with caution considering their deleterious effects.*Never gather green food from places made dirty by other animals. *Leaves of Agathi and cultivated fodder grasses like guinea, Napier and Para grass are palatable to rabbits apart from the leguminous fodder such as cowpea, Lucerne, stylosanthes etc. *The rabbits should be supplied adequate quantity of fresh clean water (they drink approximately 10 ml/100g body weight per day and up to 90 ml/100 g body weight 2695575308610 Utensil for FeedingA good number of watering utensils and feeders are used in the rabbit cages. The feeders may be attached to the rabbit cages so that feed can be put from outside. The feeder should be kept at 5-8 cm high so as to minimize contamination of feed by faeces, urine or water. Open food and water bowls are less hygienic than hoppers and water bottles. Earthen and aluminium bowls could be used since they are cheaper from economic stand point. Hoppers should be made as such so that food can not split out. The water bottles if used should be cleaned properly. Filling and cleaning of water bottles in large farm may require considerable time, therefore, automatic watering systems are gaining importance in big rabbitry. The feeder ,waterers, hopper whatever may be the type should be cleaned properly each day before use. Advantages of pellet feeds?:1. Reduce dust 2. Reduce waste 3. Require less storage area3176270525145Composition of three feed mixtures for rabbitBengal gram14 partsWheat30 partsGroundnut cake20 partsMeat cum bone meal10 partsBlack gram husk24 partsMineral and vitamin mixtures1.5 partsSalt0.5 parts?100Bengal gram10 partsGroundnut cake20 partsTil cake5 partsRice polish35 partsWheat28 partsMineral and vitamin mixtures1.5 partsSalt0.5 parts?1004267200-95250Concentrate feed composition Broken maize – 30 partsBroken & ground bajra – 30 partsGround nut cake – 13 partsWheat bran – 25 parts Mineral mixture – 1.5 partsSalt –0.5 parts00Concentrate feed composition Broken maize – 30 partsBroken & ground bajra – 30 partsGround nut cake – 13 partsWheat bran – 25 parts Mineral mixture – 1.5 partsSalt –0.5 partsFeeding schedule for the different categories of RabbitsItemApproximate body weightQuantity to be fed per dayConcentratesGreen grassBucks4 - 5 kg150 g250-300 gDoes4 - 5 kg150 g250-300 gLactating does-200 g250-300 gWeaner600 - 700 g50 g150 g2857515240For 1 kg rabbit (Minimum requirement---- 20 gm concentrate & 40 gm green fodder /day00For 1 kg rabbit (Minimum requirement---- 20 gm concentrate & 40 gm green fodder /day??Rabbit is a monogastric animal and presence of micro flora in the hindgut (caecum) andthe habit of coprophagy makes it capable of consuming a variety of feed.??In back yard, a few rabbit can be reared with the kitchen waste and other available forage.??In the large scale balanced rearing, pelleted rabbit ration is essential.246443552070??Rabbit feed consist of roughages and concentrate where roughage is necessary tostimulates gut motility rather than as nutrient source.??Gastrointestinal Stasis is a serious condition that is often caused by a low-fiber diet.The leaves of potato and tomato plants may make rabbits sick.??The energy rich concentrates can be mixed 30-60 % in rabbit ration, however, the protein2781300353060rich concentrates can be mixed 15-25% in ration according to age and production stages ofrabbits.??Roughage feeds, legumes fodder such as cow pea, rice bean, soybean, pea; grasses likesetaria, guinea, broom and Congo signal can also be given torabbit. Other roughage feeds are cabbage, radish, carrot and oats.28575328930??Roughage can be fed as such in fresh form or as hay. Even crop residue like groundnut275272520320and soyabean straws can also be included to the extent of 10 –25% in ration.?? Avoid mouldy& dusty feed and the fresh greens kept long in heaps as it sours very often. ................
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