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Silkworm oil was used in a rabbit diet to evaluate its benefit on the fatty acid (FA) profile of different carcass portions. Two experimental diets were prepared: a control diet (commercial diet with 13 g/kg sunflower oil) and a silkworm oil diet (SWO) (commercial diet with 13 g/kg silkworm oil). Rabbits received the experimental diets the last three weeks before slaughter, which occurred at 10 weeks of age. At slaughter, hind leg meat, liver, and perirenal fat were sampled for FA profile analysis. The SWO diet significantly increased the n-3 FA of all three sampling sites and halved the n-6/n-3 ratio of hind leg meat and perirenal fat. Furthermore, the liver of SWO rabbits was also richer in C22:6 n-3 compared to that of control rabbits. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that the total dietary replacement of sunflower oil with silkworm oil in fattening rabbits positively changed the FA profile of the considered carcass tissues.

Studies have shown that nutrient requirement of suckling kits is not satisfied, but they can be fed a double quantity of milk (double nursing) resulting in improved BW and weight gain. The aim of our trials was to give additional solid feed during the early suckling period (3 to 15 days of age) when rabbit kits drink exclusively milk. Two experiments were conducted with animals from Pannon Rabbit Breeding Program. In experiment 1 (n=77 does, 734 kits) the does received commercial feed (C) or C pellet supplemented with 0.2 g powdered thyme/kg (CT). Within both dietary groups of the does three groups of litters were formed: no additional solid creep feeding (N); soya bean-based pellet (S); S pellet with 1% added powdered thyme (ST). In group S and ST, cylinder-shaped solid pellets were made. At the beginning (3 days of age) two pieces of pellets were placed daily into the nestbox after nursing. Later on it was increased to six pellets till 15 days of age. The kits consumed the additional solid feed (S and ST), however, it did not affect the BW, weight gain or survival. In experiment 2 (n=30 does, 240 kits) all does consumed commercial feed. The additional feed for kits was based on commercial piglet feed. Three groups were formed: the litters in control group were fed no additional solid feed (K), kits were fed additionally with pellets (8 mm of diameter) based on piglet feed powder, pellet adhesive and water (PI), and extra glycerin powder was added to the mixture of piglet feed powder and water (PG). The experiment lasted from the age of 3 days till 21 days. At the beginning six pellets were placed on the nest material. Later on the amount was gradually increased to 24 pellets till age of 15 days. The kits consumed the pellets. The BW of PI group differed from group PG at age of 5, 9, 12 and 21 days by +7.3%, +6.5%, +5.9%, +4.8%, respectively (P

The present study aimed to test the effect of a dietary supplementation with Silybum marianum (SM), an herbaceous Mediterranean plant traditionally used to treat liver and gastrointestinal diseases and with antioxidant properties, on the productive performance, carcass traits and meat quality of growing rabbits. With this purpose, at weaning (5 weeks of age), a total of 144 Pannon Large rabbits were allocated to three experimental groups. The control group (C, n=51) was fed with a basal diet, whereas the other groups received the basal diet supplemented with SM herbal powder at two concentrations: 5 g/kg (SM1, n=48) and 10 g/kg (SM2, n=45). Rabbits were housed in wire-mesh cages (3 rabbits/cage) and fed ad libitum throughout the experiment. Productive performance and mortality were recorded weekly. Rabbits were slaughtered at 11 weeks of age, carcasses were dissected, and hind leg (HL) and Longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) meat were analysed for meat quality (oxidative status, pHu and L*, a*, b* colour) traits. In addition, a sensory analysis on the LTL meat was carried out by a trained panel. Mortality was significantly reduced in SM treatments compared to C group from week 6–7 (10.4 and 11.1 vs. 17.7%, for SM1, SM2 and C groups, respectively; P

[EN] The aim of the experiment was to compare the reproductive performance and nursing behaviour of rabbit does reared under 2 different light intensities and observe the preference of does among cages with different light intensities. Female rabbits were randomly housed in 2 identical rooms, under the same housing conditions in wire-net cages. The 2 rooms only differed in the light intensity; group L: 150-200 lux (n=54 does, 230 inseminations), group D: 10-20 lux (n=54 does, 232 inseminations). Reproduction data from the first 5 consecutive reproductive cycles were evaluated. Nursing behaviour of the does (n = 24) was observed at the 2nd or 4th lactation. The preference of does (n=8) among 4 cages with different light intensities (10, 35, 75 or 155 lux) as examined. There were 6-7% difference between the 2 groups in the number of kits born in total and those born alive (born total: 11.25 vs. 10.59 kits, P, This study was supported by the János Bolyai Research Scholarship of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (BO/00326/11/4) and by the GOP-1.3.1. project.

Life is based on sunlight. Light is important for the crepuscular or nocturnal animal species such as wild or domesticated rabbits. They are able to see well at night; however their colour vision is limited. Rabbits are exposed to a periodic light and dark environment which generates a 24 h (circadian) rhythm of almost every function of the body. When rabbits lived in continuous light or dark the daily rhythms were a little longer or shorter than 24 h, respectively. The daily activity of European wild rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) depends on the season (the time of sunrise and sunset), and that of farmed rabbits on the times that the lights are switched off and on. Strong seasonal effects can be found in reproduction and moulting. In farms, the seasonal effects are limited when 16 h lighting is applied year around. Change of 8 h light to 16 h light eight days before insemination is effective to increase the receptivity and kindling rate. Maturation of Rex rabbit fur can be accelerated and its quality can be improved changing the photoperiod from a long to a short daily lighting period. The wool production of Angora rabbits can be increased by shortening the light period or by melatonin treatment. Light schedules are applied for different purposes on rabbit farms. Further research on the effects of light intensity, colour and LED lighting are needed.

The aim of the study was to examine the effects of genotype (Pannon Large × Pannon Ka/Large/or Hungarian Giant × Pannon Ka/Hung), housing system (Cage or small Pen) and hay supplementation (Pellet without or with Hay/P + Hay/) on carcass and meat (Longissimus dorsi/LD/ and hind leg/HL/) quality of growing rabbits. Large rabbits showed higher carcass weights, as well as higher fatness and meatiness compared to Hung rabbits. Caged rabbits were heavier, with higher prevalence of the mid part of the carcass, and showed higher fatness and lower meat toughness than Penned rabbits. Caged rabbits meat was richer in MUFA, but poorer in PUFA and Σ n− 6 FA. Hay supplementation impaired carcass weight, carcass fatness, L* and a* color, and lipids content. P + Hay increased the HL meat content of C18:3 n− 6 and C20:5 n− 3 FA. Overall results offer further information on how alternative breeds, housing systems and feeding strategies can affect carcass traits and meat quality.

In this study the results of two experiments are presented. The aims of the study were to examine the location preference of growing rabbits depending on the floor types (plastic-mesh, wire-mesh and deep-litter) and temperature (low, medium and high; Trial 1), and to evaluate the productive performance of growing rabbits at medium room temperature (Trial 2). In Trial 1 at the age of 5 weeks, the rabbits were randomly placed in one of the three pens each with a basic area of 3.8 m2 (43 rabbits/pen, 11.3 rabbits/m2). The floor of each pen was 1/3 wire-mesh, 1/3 plastic-mesh and 1/3 deep-litter. The treatment was repeated in winter, spring and summer with the following room temperatures: 10–11 °C (low, n=129), 17–20 °C (medium, n=129) and 22–26 °C (high, n=129), respectively. With infrared cameras, 24h video recordings were made once a week, between 5 and 11 weeks of age. The number of rabbits in each location in the pens was recorded at every 30 min. The rabbits showed the lowest preference for deep-litter (P

The experiment aimed to study the effect of Digestarom® dietary inclusion (herbal formulation containing a mixture of essential oils, herbs, spices and extracts) on apparent digestibility and digestive ecosystem of growing rabbits, as well as the effects of its supplementation before and after weaning on growth performance. At kindling, rabbit does and litters were divided into 2 dietary groups (51 does/group) and fed either a control diet (C) or a diet supplemented with 300 mg Digestarom®/kg diet (D) until weaning, which occurred at 35 d (before weaning supplementation). Each group was further divided into 3 dietary groups: CC received the control diet and DD received the D diet from 5 to 12 wk of age, and DC were fed with D (from 5 to 8 wk of age) and C diets (from 8 to 12 wk of age) (after weaning supplementation; 54 kits/group). An in vivo digestibility trial and a faecal microbial count were carried out on growing rabbits that received only the C or D diets during the trial. The C group showed higher DM intake than D group (215 vs. 196 g/d; P

Summary The present experiment tested a dietary supplementation with linseed oil and selenium to growing rabbits. The basal diet (B) contained 3% sunflower oil, while it was substituted with 3% linseed oil in the experimental feed (S). The selenium (Se) content of the two diets was 0.10 vs. 0.46 mg/kg. Rabbits were fed with B diet from the age of 18 days. One group was fed with the B diet until 11 weeks of age (group B), whereas the experimental groups were fed with S diet for 1, 2, 3 or 4 weeks (groups S1, S2, S3 and S4, respectively), before slaughtering (11 weeks of age). Live performance and carcass traits of rabbits, fatty acid (FA) profile and selenium content of their hind leg (HL) and Longissimus thoracis et lumborum (LTL) meat were considered in this study. In addition, the effect of two different cooking methods on the nutritional value of the enriched HL meat was also assessed. The tested dietary supplementation only minimally affected the live performance and carcass traits of rabbits. The S supplementation significantly reduced the Σ n-6 FA and increased the Σ n-3 FA of the HL meat and LTL meat, compared to the B diet (p

The experiment tested the effect of Digestarom® herbal supplementation on the antioxidant content, lipid oxidation and fatty acid profile of rabbit meat. At kindling, rabbit does and litters were divided into two dietary groups (N=162 kits/dietary group) and fed either a control diet (C) or the C diet supplemented with Digestarom® (D: 300mg/kg). At weaning (35days) four experimental fattening groups (54 rabbits each) were considered: CC, CD, DC and DD. After slaughtering (12weeks of age), Longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscles were dissected from 20 rabbits/group and analyzed. Rabbit meat of DD group was enriched in essential C18:3 n-3 fatty acid and in other long-chain PUFA of n-3 series. Despite meat of DD group displayed the highest peroxidability index, TBARs value was the lowest. Meat antioxidant content followed the rank order: DD>CD>DC>CC. Digestarom® improved fatty acid composition and oxidative status of rabbit meat, particularly when administered from weaning throughout the growing period.

Genetic parameters were estimated in Pannon White rabbits for average daily gain (ADG, between the ages of 5 and 10 weeks), thigh muscle volume (TMV, determined by Computer Tomography-scan) and litter weight at day 21 (recorded separately for each parity within the first four parities, LW21). LW21 of each parity of the first four parities were considered as separate traits, and all traits were analysed jointly using a six-trait animal model. REML procedure was applied using PEST for data coding and VCE software for estimating variance components. The heritability estimates for LW21 were moderately low and ranged between 0.10 ± 0.02 and 0.17 ± 0.02. Higher heritability estimates were recorded for TMV (0.20 ± 0.02) and for ADG (0.21 ± 0.01). The random common litter effects were low for LW21 (ranged between 0.04 ± 0.01 and 0.13 ± 0.04) and TMV (0.14 ± 0.02) but these effects were moderate for ADG (0.18 ± 0.01). An unfavourable genetic correlation was found between LW21 and TMV especially for the 3rd (− 0.53 ± 0.09) and 4th (− 0.70 ± 0.09) parities.

The objective of the study was to determine the effect of birth weight and the influence of nutrient supply during nursing and after weaning on the performance of suckling and growing rabbits ( n = 182). The experiment was set-up using a 3 × 2 × 2 factorial arrangement. Newborn female rabbits were divided on the basis of their birth weight in 3 classes: low /L/ = 35–45 g, medium /M/ = 53–58 g and high /H/ = 65–70 g. Half of the litters were nursed by one (O) doe and the other half by two does (T). Kits were weaned at 3 weeks of age. From the age of 4 weeks half of the rabbits were fed ad libitum (AL), while the other half were reared on a restricted feeding regime (R) corresponding to 80–85% of the ad libitum feed intake level. Birth weight had a significant effect on the body weight up to the end of the experiment (18 weeks of age). H kits attained higher body weight at all ages (3772 g at 18 weeks of age compared to 3565 g and 3373 g for L and M rabbits, respectively). Significant differences were found in feed intake between 3 and 15 weeks of age, in feed conversion between 9 and 12 weeks of age and in weight gain between 3 and 4 and 12 and 15 weeks of age, in the majority of cases in favour of the H rabbits. Nursing by one or two does exerted the most pronounced effect on the body weight. T kits had significantly higher body weight than O kits up to 15 weeks of age (3306 vs. 3108 g). Differences in feed intake, feed conversion and body weight were only periodically demonstrable between the groups O and T. The feeding regime exerted a significant influence on the feed intake, weight gain and body weight of kits. Significant differences in the feed conversion were found, however, only between 15 and 18 weeks of age. Although AL rabbits achieved better feed conversion at all ages except the period between 9 and 12 weeks of age. It seems that the three factors (birth weight, number of nursing does and feeding regime), especially the feed restriction, could influence the production of does.

There is growing demand by consumers for meat produced in alternative systems. Since its market share is quite small, but is growing, it could be important to deal with this issue. The aim of the experiment was to examine the effects of genotype (terminal line or traditional giant breed), housing system (cage or pen) and feeding method (only pelleted diets or pelleted diets plus hay) on production and ear lesions of growing rabbits. The crossbred rabbits ( n =336) Pannon Large×Pannon Ka (Large) and Hungarian Giant×Pannon Ka (Hung) were weaned at 5 wk of age. Half were randomly housed in cages (3 rabbits/cage) and the other half in pens (14 rabbits/pen). Two other subgroups were formed, rabbits that received only pelleted commercial diets (Pellet) or pelleted commercial diets plus grass hay (P+Hay), ad libitum . Differences were found in body weight at 12 wk of age and in weight gain and pellet intake between 5 and 12 wk in favour of the Large rabbits (3170 vs 2935 g, P vs 39.5 g/d, P vs 132 g/d, P vs 2982 g, P vs 39.4 g/d, P vs 3017 g, P vs 40.3 g/d, P P P

Five hundred and eighty-four Pannon White kits of 73 newborn litters were submitted to one of five treatments. Control litters (SS) were nursed once a day for 35 days post partum (traditional method of nursing). DD litters were raised by two does and the kits were nursed both in the morning and in the evening until day 35 post partum. DS litters were nursed twice a day for 23 days, and then once a day until weaning at 35 days. Part of the DS litters were nursed at 08:00 and 20:00 h (i.e. every 12 h, DS12), the rest were nursed at 08:00 and at 16:00 h (DS8). Kits of the fifth treatment (D0) were nursed twice a day until day 23, and then immediately weaned.Rabbit kits that were nursed twice a day (DD, DS12, DS8, D0) consumed on average 1·89 more milk compared with SS individuals until day 23 (overall treatment effect P < 0·001). The 21-day body weight of these young was 1·7 times greater than that of the SS kits (overall P < 0·001). D0 rabbits were weaned early and their growth curve showed a slight break at this point. However, they compensated for this lag by the end of the fattening period. SS rabbits and DD ones were respectively the first and the last to start consuming solid food. The food consumption of DS rabbits was similar to that of DD until day 23 and from then until day 35 it was not significantly different from that of SS. After having been weaned on day 23, D0 kits consumed only very small quantities of pellets for 2 days. Afterwards their food intake increased abruptly. Rabbits that were nursed twice a day (DD, DS12, DS8 and D0) consumed more food as compared with the SS individuals throughout the total period of fattening (157 v. 137 g/day; P < 0·05). The weight at 10 weeks of age was 2·49 v. 2·88 kg (overall P < 0·001), respectively for SS and doublenursed (DD, DS, D0) rabbits. Nursing twice a day did not affect dressing proportion but the proportion of the carcass in the front part of the body decreased slightly (318 v. 323 g/kg; P < 0·05) while that in intermediate part increased (321 v. 307 g/kg; P < 0·05). Nevertheless, rabbits that were nursed twice a day had more (P < 0·05) perirenal + scapular fat and produced heavier livers. Total fat content of the empty body, however, was not significantly higher, with the one exception of the DD rabbits which had higher levels than any other group. The results of our experiment show clearly that the growth potential of rabbit kits is strongly limited by the milk availability during the first weeks post partum.

Production, carcass traits and meat quality of rabbits housed in cages or in different pens were compared. Rabbits (n=579) were sorted into 5 groups: C=cage (2 rabbits/cage); pen without platform: P11=9 rabbits/pen; P16=14 rabbits/pen; pen with platform: PW=wire net platform, 14 rabbits/pen; PD=platform with straw-litter, 14 rabbits/pen. Feed intake and average daily gain between 5 and 11 weeks, and body weight at 11 weeks were significantly higher in C rabbits than that of the mean of pen-housed groups, while the PD group had the lowest growth performance. C rabbits had the smallest hind part to reference carcass (P

The addition of platforms to rabbit cages increases their accessible area and provides rabbits greater freedom and mobility. Different types of platforms enable rabbits to situate themselves where they are most comfortable. The objective of this experiment was to analyse preference of growing rabbits between different areas of the pen depending on the elevated platforms’ floor-type. Pens with a basic area of 0.84 m2 were equipped with platforms of 0.42 m2. Three types of flooring of the elevated platforms were used as treatments: deep-litter floor and an open wire-net floor (Experiment 1), and a deep-litter floor and a wire-net floor with a manure tray beneath it (Experiment 2). Growing rabbits (n = 168; 42 per treatment) between the ages of 5 and 11 weeks were studied, based on 24 h video recordings from infra-red cameras (one recording per week) applying scan sampling method with a frequency of 30 min. When the platform was deep-litter, significantly (P < 0.001) more rabbits used the area under the platform (53.7% and 54.3% in Experiments 1 and 2, respectively) than stayed on the platform (16.7% and 7.6%). In treatments of wire-net platform with and without tray beneath the platform also significantly (P < 0.001) more rabbits stayed under the platform (43.7% and 34.7%, respectively) than on the platform (19.5% and 29.9%, respectively). The differences from the expected 33.3% staying on the platform or under the platform were significant at least at the level of P < 0.05. The results show that the wire-net platform with the manure tray provides the optimal environment as it leads to the rabbits spreading themselves more evenly in the pen (i.e. the platform expands available floor area) without the risk of soiling from above, and without adverse effects on heat dissipation, and with the possibility of seeking cover when desired.

[EN] In this experiment the authors examined the effects of the colour of light and reproductive rhythm on rabbit does' production. The does (n=122) were first inseminated at the age of 16.5 weeks and housed in two rooms. In the first room, white coloured light was applied (W) and blue lighting (B) was used in the second room. In both rooms, the does were randomly divided into two subgroups and inseminated using a reproductive rhythm of 42 (42D) and 56 (56D) days, respectively. The rabbit does' production was examined over 336 days (8 and 6 reproduction cycles in groups 42D and 56D, respectively). During the first gestation, the W rabbits had higher feed consumption (162 vs. 145 g/d, P, The financial help of TECH_08_A3/2-2008-0384 (OM-00198/2008) project is gratefully acknowledged

[EN] The aim of the experiment was to examine the effect of group size and stocking density on productive, carcass and meat quality traits. The trial was conducted using 230 Pannon white rabbits weaned at 5 weeks and reared until the age of 11 weeks. Seven groups were formed with different cage/pen sizes (group size) and stocking densities: SC16=small cage (0.12 m2), 16 rabbits/m2 (2 rabbits/cage); LC16=large cage (0.50 m2), 16 rabbits/m2 (8 rabbits/cage); LC12=large cage, 12 rabbits/m2 (6 rabbits/cage); SP16=small pen (0.86 m2), 16 rabbits/m2 (13 rabbits/cage); SP12=small pen, 12 rabbits/m2 (10 rabbits/cage); LP16=large pen (1.72 m2), 16 rabbits/m2 (26 rabbits/cage); LP12=large pen, 12 rabbits/m2 (20 rabbits/cage). Stocking density did not affect production significantly, as stocking densities lower than 16 rabbits/m2 had no effect on the growing rabbits¿ performance. Group size (size of the cage or pen) had an effect on certain growth, carcass and meat quality traits. Increasing group size resulted in lower values for weight gain (SC: 39.2>LC: 39.0> SP: 38.7> LP: 37.8 g/d; P=0.22) and body weight (SC: 2506>LC: 2498> SP: 2487> LP: 2446 g; P=0.35), similarly to other results in the literature, but the differences were not significant. Aggressive behaviour was observed to be more frequent in the larger group sizes. At the age of 11 weeks the proportion of rabbits with ear lesions in the SC, LC, SP and LP groups were 0.0, 7.1, 8.7, and 17.4%, respectively, demonstrating that larger group size increases the risk of ear lesions. The effect of group size on the ratio of the fore part to the reference carcass (SC: 28.5, LC: 28.2, LP: 29.0%; P=0.02) and on the amount of perirenal fat (SC: 21.3, LC: 18.0, LP: 13.7 g; P, The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance received from the GAK OMFB-01335/ALAP1- 00121 project.

[EN] Three diets were formulated, a control diet (C, 40.7% NDF, 15.1% CP), the same diet but medicated (M, 500 mg/kg oxytetracycline and 50 mg/kg thiamulin), and a third diet obtained substituting 4% of barley with inulin (Frutafi t) in C diet (I). Pannon White does and their litters were randomly allocated into three groups (8/group) at 21 d of lactation and diets offered to the does and kids from 21 d of lactation onwards. After weaning (28 d), growing rabbits (30 cages/ treatment, 2 rabbits/cage) were fed the same diet as before weaning. At 28, 35 and 42 d of age, 6 healthy animals from each group (1 animal/cage) were slaughtered. Live body weight, feed intake and feed conversion ratio increased and growth rate decreased with age (P, The research was funded by the OTKA (project No. T046999) and the TéT foundation (project No. FR27/2007).The authors are grateful to Dr. L. Maertens (ILVO-Belgium) for his advice on diet formulation.

The aim of the experiment was to evaluate the milk production of pseudopregnant does. In this experiment, data of multiparous, inseminated, pregnant (IP, n=15) does and two groups of presumably pseudopregnant multiparous does: inseminated, non-pregnant (INP, n=17) and induced to ovulation by GnRH (1.5 μg per animal) at the day of insemination (11 d after parturition) (non-inseminated, ovulating: NIO, n=15) were analysed. The progesterone level was measured at the 12th d after treatment to determine if females were pseudopregnant. All IP and NIO does were pregnant and pseudopregnant, respectively. Within the INP group, 10 and 7 does were diagnosed as positive (INPO) or negative (INPNO) for pseudopregnancy. Two of the INPNO does perished during lactation. The average milk production of groups IP, INP and NIO was 212, 92 and 72 g/d, respectively (P160 g in the various groups were: IP=0, 0, 0, 0 and 100%, NIO=20, 13, 27, 40 and 0%, INP=15, 15, 15, 55 and 0%, respectively. The daily milk yield of the 5 INPNO does was 2, 6, 27, 84 and 139 g, respectively. These results demonstrated that multiparous empty does, pseudopregnant or non-pseudopregnant, can produce milk, but in lower quantities than multiparous does after kindling.

[EN] Pannon White bucks were selected divergently using CT method by the volume of the hind leg muscle. Animals showed the highest and lowest muscle volumes were selected as minus and plus-selected variants. The male progenies of the minus and plus-selected parents were slaughtered as fi rst generation which was selected again by CT method and the male progenies of the parents were slaughtered. Results in the fi rst and second generation suggest that selection, as a genetic effect did not affect the rate of lipid peroxidation, as was measured by malondialdehyde content and glutathione redox status, as was measured by the reduced glutathione content and glutathione peroxidase activity of the hind leg muscle. However, there were some differences in the fatty acid composition. Significant (P