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[EN] The aim of the experiment was to compare the carcass and meat quality traits of growing rabbits housed on different floor types. At the age of 35 d, rabbits (n=126) were randomly sorted into 3 groups and housed in pens with different floor types: plastic-mesh, deep-litter straw or wire-mesh. Slaughter weight, carcass and its parts’ weight, meat (Longissimus thoracis et lumborum [LL] muscle and hind leg) pH and colour, oxidative status and fatty acid profile were measured and correlations calculated. The deep-litter straw rabbits showed the lowest pHu and b* values of LL muscle and oxidation of the both muscles. The fatty acid profile of LL muscle of deep-litter straw rabbits showed a higher percentage of monounsaturated fatty acids and long chain n-3 polyunsaturated (PUFA) fatty acids, whereas the content of 18:2n-6 and total PUFA was lower. We concluded that housing the growing rabbits on wire- or plastic-mesh floors showed no substantial differences, while housing rabbits on deep-litter negatively affected certain qualitative traits.

[EN] The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation with spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) or/and thyme (Thymus vulgaris) on total tract apparent digestibility of nutrients and the performance of growing rabbits. At weaning (5 wk of age) the rabbits were randomly allotted to 7 groups (42 rabbits/group, 3 rabbits/cage). Rabbits in the control group (C-C) received a control pelleted feed throughout the experiment (5-11 wk of age) without any supplementation (crude protein: 176 g CP/kg, neutral detergent fibre: 325 g NDF/kg). In the other groups, the control diet was supplemented with 5% spirulina (S, mainly in substitution of soybean meal), or 3% thyme (T, mainly in substitution of alfalfa meal) or by both 5% S and 3% T (ST) for the whole (5-11 wk of age; groups: S-S, T-T, ST-ST) or part of the growing period (8-11 wk of age; groups: C-S, C-T, C-ST). Supplementations had no effect on apparent digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, acid detergent fibre, gross energy and digestible energy. The CP TTAD was lowest in rabbits fed the S diet, whereas it was highest in C fed rabbits, the other 2 treatments being intermediate (P<0.001). The starch TTAD was lowest for S fed rabbits (98.3%) and highest for ST fed rabbits (99.4%), the other 2 dietary groups being intermediate (P<0.001). In contrast, the ether extract TTAD was higher in T than ST and C dietary groups (on av. 70.4 vs. 67.7% respectively; P<0.001), with S fed rabbits showing an intermediate value (69.1%). The NDF TTAD of the ST diet was lower than that of the other 3 groups (16.4 vs. 21.0% respectively; P<0.001). The TTAD of Ca reached the lowest value for the S diet (53.5%) compared with the other 3 diets (on av. 59.1%; P<0.001). The S diet also had the lowest digestibility (P<0.001) for K and P,but in this case the C group always showed the highest values (P<0.001), with T and ST rabbits exhibiting intermediate results. Spirulina and/or thyme dietary supplementation had no effec

[EN] The aim of this study was to compare the effect and duration of dietary inclusion of 5% spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) and/or 3% thyme (Thymus vulgaris) on growing rabbit carcass composition, meat and bone rheological traits, and the vitamin B12 content of Longissimus dorsi (LD) meat. The study involved 294 maternal line growing rabbits from the Pannon breeding programme. At weaning (5 wk), animals were randomly divided by dietary treatment into 7 groups of 42 rabbits each. A control group (C-C) received a pellet with no supplementation throughout the trial (5-11 wk of age), whereas the other groups were fed diets supplemented with 5% spirulina (S), 3% thyme (T) or with both ingredients (ST) for either the entire growing period (5-11 wk of age; groups: S-S, T-T, ST-ST, respectively), or its final part only (8-11 wk of age; groups: C-S, C-T, C-ST, respectively). Results showed that regardless of the duration of supplementation, spirulina and thyme provided no effect on the traits examined, except for scapular fat content, whose value was higher in the S-S group than in the C-T group (P<0.05). Spirulina was confirmed as a rich source of vitamin B12 that was successfully transferred into LD meat, thus demonstrating its value as an effective natural supplement in producing food fortified with this vital element. Further studies are necessary to clarify the effect of spirulina on carcass fat deposition, bone development, and mineralisation.

[EN] The aim of the experiment was to analyse the effects of the lighting schedule on the rabbit does' production. The does were randomly housed in two rooms at the age of 11 weeks. In the first room, a continuous 16-hour light period was applied (8:00-24:00) (16L:8D, control group; n=60 does, 239 parturitions). In the second room, an 8-hour light period was used (8:00-16:00) which was extended by an additional 1 hour light period in the middle of the 16-hour long dark period (23:00-24:00) 8 days prior to insemination (8L:7D:1L:8D, treated group; n=59 does, 223 parturitions). The experiment was finished after 5 reproductive cycles. Significant differences were obtained for body weight of the does (higher in treated group, P<0.05), litter size (control and treated groups: total born = 9.23 and 8.69, born alive = 8.83 and 8.24, at day 35 = 8.29 and 7.84, P=0.015, P=0.006, P <0.001, respectively), litter weight, individual weight of kits, suckling mortality and for feed consumption between days 21 and 35 of the lactation period. No significant differences were observed for number of inseminations per parturition, feed intake between days 0-21 of lactation, the does' condition at kindling measured by the TOBEC method and doe survival. The annual performance per doe was superior in the control group for number of kits born alive (65.0 and 58.8, P=0.036), number of weaned (at day 35) kits (58.9 and 53.8, P=0.046) and total weight of the weaned kits (58.2 and 52.7 kg, P=0.049) compared to the treated group. According to the results, the additional one hour lighting period (treated group) had no favourable effect on production compared to the continuous 16-hour light.

[EN] The aim of the experiment was to analyse the effect of the feeding programme between 21 day of lactation and weaning on the production of rabbit does and their kits. The does were randomly housed in two rooms. In the first room, a continuous 16-hour light period was applied (16L; n=60). In the second room, an 8-hour light period was used which was extended by an additional 1 hour light period in the middle of the 16-hour long dark period 8 days prior to insemination (8+1L; n=59). In both rooms, two sub-groups were formed: in the first sub-group, does and their kits received breeding pellet from parturition to weaning (DE: 10.4 MJ/kg, crude protein: 17.8%, crude fibre: 13.6%; BB group; n=60 does, 228 parturitions); in the second sub-group, the breeding pellet was replaced by growing pellet from 21 days of lactation to weaning (DE: 9.7 MJ/kg, crude protein: 16.0%, crude fibre: 17.2%; BG group; n=59 does, 234 parturitions). The experiment was completed after 5 reproductive cycles. As no significant interaction was found between the lighting and feeding programmes, the two effects are evaluated separately. In this paper, the effect of feeding programme is discussed. No significant differences were observed between the BB and BG groups for number of inseminations per parturition, body weight of the does measured at parturition and at 21st day of lactation or for litter size. Changing the pellet in BG group significantly affected the body weight of the does measured at 35th day of lactation (4610 vs. 4530g, in BB and BG, respectively; P=0.016), the litter and individual body weight of the kits at day 35 (BB: 8160 vs. BG: 7834g, P=0.001; BB: 1006 vs. BG: 964g, P<0.001, respectively) and the does' condition at kindling, as measured by the TOBEC method (E-value: BB: 1922 vs. BG: 1957, P=0.024). Productivity indexes, expressed as number of kits born alive, number of weaned (at day 35) kits and total weight of the weaned kits per year per doe were similar in the two group