THE PERFORMANCE OF RABBITS FED FAT-FREE DIET

Abstract

The effect of fat on the growth performance of weaning rabbits was studied. The eight weeks trial  evolving sixteen six-weeks old male and female New Zealand white rabbits weighting 410-4'709 in a completely randomized design were feed two diets, one containing fat and the second one was fat-free. The body weight gain, feed intake, feed efficiency and protein efficiency ratio were determined at the end of eight weeks, The body weight gain, feed efficiency and protein efficiency ratio of the rabbits fed with control diet increased, though they were not significantly (P>0.01) different from those rabbits fed fat-free diet. However the inclusion of fat in rabbit diet had no significant effect on fat digestibility. There was no incidence of enteritis or mortality among the treatment groups.