Meat production and quality of rabbits fed different diets and a biological activator

Abstract

Objective: Evaluate the effect of four diets on the productive performance of rabbits, carcass yields, meat color and pH. 
 Design/methodology/approach: Thirty-two California breed rabbits were randomly assigned to each of the following diets: “commercial feed” alone; “commercial feed + biological-activator”; “alfalfa forage + biological activator” and “integral feed + biological-activator”. In the animals were evaluated: daily weight gain (DWG), feed conversion (FC), daily feed intake (DFI), body weight (BW), empty body weight (EBW) and carcass yields. In the meat were determined: pH, luminosity, red color and yellow color. Means were compared using the Duncan test (α = 0.05). 
 Results: The commercial feed diets showed (P < 0.05) higher DWG, DFI, BW and EBW than he other diets. The “commercial feed + biological-activator” diet produced (P < 0.05) in general, higher carcass weights and yields than the alfalfa-based diet, which produced (P < 0.05) a higher pH and yellow color in the meat than the “commercial feed alone” diet. 
 Study Limitations/Implications: The feeding of the rabbits by adding the biological-activator improves the performance, the color of the meat and the pH.
 Findings/conclusions: to add the biological-activator into the commercial feed improves the yield of empty body weight; to add it into the alfalfa forage and compare it with the commercial feed (alone or with activator) improves both the color of meat (making it more yellow) and the pH (making it higher).