EFFECT OF DIETARY CRUDE FIBER ON THE PERFORMANCE OF BALADI RABBITS

Four growth trials were conducted to investigate the influence of dietary crude fiber level on the performance of rabbits. A total of forty rabbits of Baladi type were
andomly allocated to four groups whereby four different dietary regimens were adopted. The diets isonitrogenic but the percentage of crude fiber were 2, 7, 12, & 17% for diets 1, 2, 3, & 4, respectively. The experiment was durated for 8 weeks. The level of dietar crude fiber had a significant effect on the different parameters of growth, digestive characteristics and dressing percentage of carcass. Rabbits of group 3 which fed diet containing 12% crude fiber gave the highest values for final body weight, weight gain, relative growth rate, feed conversion efficiency and dressing percentage of carcass, while those fed diet contained 2% crude fiber gave the lowest values with high mortality rate (50%). It could be concluded that the level of dietary crude fiber plays an important role in feeding rabbits not only for high productive performance but also for protection against digestive disorders. A diet having 12% crude fiber and about 2800 kcal/kg diet digestible energy seems to be satisfying for growing Baladi rabbits.