| Livestock Research for Rural Development 35 (3) 2023 | LRRD Search | LRRD Misssion | Guide for preparation of papers | LRRD Newsletter | Citation of this paper |
One experiment on reproductivity of Californian does was conducted to evaluate the effects of the Arachis pintoi levels in basal diet of Para grass (Brachiaria mutica). Forty does were fed in individual cages and arranged in a completely randomized design with 5 treatments and 8 replications. Five treatments were the Arachis pintoi (AP) replacing Para grass at levels of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% (DM basis) in the diets corresponding to the AP0, AP25, AP50, AP75 and AP100 treatments. In two litters the results showed that the intakes of dry matter (DM) and organic matter (OM) of the does in pregnant and lactating periods were not significantly different, while these intakes of crude protein (CP) of the does in were significantly increased (p<0.05) with enhancing the levels of Arachis pintoi in the diet and the highest values for the AP100 treatment. The litter size at birth and at weaning and daily milk yield of does were gradually improved by the CP of the dietary increasing AP with the better reproductive performance for the AP75 treatment. The conclusion was that the AP replacing 75% Para grass in diets should be applied for Californian rabbit does in practice.
Key words: rabbit, dietary protein, legume forage, nutrient intake, Para grass, reproduction
In recent years the livestock outbreaks occurred in many provinces of Vietnam such as African swine fever, bird flu and foot and mouth disease, etc., which caused the losses of animals and economy. While rabbit production is a prospective production with better local feed utilization, rapid reproduction, good meat quality and more profits but less diseases (Otte et al 2007). Rabbit husbandry in rural areas or commercial farms could beneficially contribute to both farmers and companies. Rabbit (Oryctotagus cuniculus) could consumes abundant feed sources such as grasses, legumes, vegetables, agro-byproducts, concentrates, etc. The good dominance of rabbits is a better conversion of plant protein to meat as compared to other animal species (Lebas et al 1997). Preston (2022) indicated that rabbits can recycle the contents of the caecum provide the animal with advantages similar to those in ruminants except that. In the rabbit, fermentation follows the enzymatic digestion and they efficiently utilize fibrous feed by courtesy of their feeding and digestive strategy. It is also confirmed that the better utilization of supplementary feeds of plants, which are locally available and cheap and would improve the economic return.
In Mekong delta (MD) of Vietnam recently the pure Californian, New Zealand and Hyla rabbits have been raised for higher performance of meat and reproduction, due to the suitable climate and local feeds including natural grasses, wild legumes, vegetables, etc. The Arachis pintoi is a legume from Cerrado is a vast ecoregion of tropical savanna in eastern Brazil and has a good potential of using as protein supplement for animals (Wikipedia 2021). It has also been planted in many provinces in Vietnam for preventing soil erosion and soil fertility and well developed in MD for making scenes and harvested several times a year with the good biomass. Arachis pintoi had crude protein of 17.5%, which was used as a dietary CP supplementation for Guinea fowl (Tran Huu Lanh 2013). The objective of this experiment was to determine the optimum level of Arachis pintoi replacing Para grass in diet on reproductive performance of Californian does.
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| Photo 1. Arachis pintoi |
The trial was carried out at the experimental farm Nam Can Tho in Phong Dien district of Can Tho City and at the Department of Animal science, College of Agriculture of Can Tho University for feed analysis.
Forty Californian rabbit does at five months of age were arranged in a complete randomized design, with 5 treatments and 8 replications. Five treatments were the Arachis pintoi replacing Para grass at levels of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% (DM basis) in the diet corresponding to the AP0, AP25, AP50, Ạ75 and AP100 treatment.
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Para grass (Brachiaria mutica) and Arachis pintoi (AP) were collected daily in the areas surrounding the farm, while soybean extraction meal, ground corn and soya waste were bought at a local feed store in Can Tho City and a local tofu factory. Before entering the experiment all the does were individually offered Para grass and supplementation (soybean extraction meal, ground corn and soya waste) to get the daily dry mater intake for three days and the AP replacement to Para grass was applied. During the experiment, every two weeks this was repeated to adjust the AP replacement in the diets by using the Excel software of the computer. Feed ingredients in diets at the beginning of the experiment were presented in Table 1.
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Table 1. Feed ingredients (DM) in diets for feeding the experimental does |
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Ingredients |
Treatment |
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|
AP0 |
AP25 |
AP50 |
AP75 |
AP100 |
|||
|
Arachis pintoi |
0 |
25 |
50 |
75 |
100 |
||
|
Para grass (B. mutica) |
Ad lib |
Ad lib |
Ad lib |
Ad lib |
0 |
||
|
Soya waste (g/day) |
200 |
200 |
200 |
200 |
200 |
||
|
Soybean extraction meal (g/day) |
40 |
40 |
40 |
40 |
40 |
||
|
Ground corn (g/day) |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
||
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AP0, AP25, AP50, APP75, AP100: Arachis pintoi replacing Para grass at levels of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% Para grass (DM basis.) |
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The animals were fed three times a day, at 7:00, 13:00 and 18:00h. The Arachis pintoi was fed in different treatments following design. Para grass was offered ad libitum, while soya waste (200 g), soybean extraction meal (40g) and ground corn (10 g) were given to all does. In litter 1 and 2 the diets of treatments were also adjusted weekly by increasing allowances by 5, 10 and 15% in the second, third and fourth week of pregnancy, respectively. During the lactation period allowances were increased by 10% in the first week, 30% in the second and third week, and 40% in the fourth week and the experiment was 2 litter of reproduction. All animals had access to fresh water at all times.
The does were kept individually in separate cages, and 10 Californian bucks in similar reproductive performance selected were used for mating. The breeding service was done at two weeks after birth. The new-born animals were weaned at the 30th day. Refusals and spillage were collected and weighed daily in the morning to calculate feed intake. Weights of rabbits at birth and weaning, and daily milk yields were measured. The does were weighed weekly from mating to parturition and their weight gains calculated during pregnancy. Before entering experiment all does were vaccinated to prevent some diseases, especially rabbit Hemorrhagic disease and also parasite diseases.
Reproduction criteria were recorded in 2 litters. Feeds and refusals were taken for analyses of DM, OM, CP, NDF and ADF following the procedure of AOAC (1990) and Van Soest et al (1991). The measurements taken including daily feed and nutrient intakes for each litter, litter size at birth and weaning, weight gain of does in pregnant period and daily milk yield recorded by weighing the kids before and after suckling of kittens.
The data of experiments were analyzed by analysis of variance using the ANOVA of General linear model of Minitab Reference Manual Release 16.2 (Minitab, 2010) to compare the differences among the treatments, while comparing between 2 treatments the Tukey test of the Minitab was used.
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Table 2. Chemical composition of feeds (% DM basis) used in the litter 1 |
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|
Item |
DM |
OM |
CP |
EE |
NDF |
ADF |
Ash |
ME, MJ/kgDM* |
|
|
Para grass |
13.8 |
90.0 |
12.1 |
4.95 |
63.5 |
45.6 |
10.0 |
8.70 |
|
|
Arachis pintoi |
15.0 |
89.3 |
18.1 |
3.45 |
55.0 |
33.4 |
10.7 |
8.94 |
|
|
Maize |
88.0 |
99.1 |
8.95 |
3.65 |
20.4 |
9.00 |
0.90 |
14.5 |
|
|
Soya waste |
10.4 |
95.4 |
21.6 |
10.2 |
32.6 |
24.5 |
4.60 |
11.2 |
|
|
Soybean extraction meal |
88.2 |
92.5 |
43.2 |
3.45 |
27.3 |
17.6 |
7.50 |
12.9 |
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Characteristics of feeds used in the first litter are presented in Table 2.
DM: Dry matter, OM: Organic matter, CP: Crude protein, EE: Ether extract, NDF: Neutral detergent fiber, ADF: Acid detergent fiber and ME: Metabolizable energy, *Maertens et al (2002).
Para grass (PG) contained lower DM and CP concentrations as compared to Arachis pintoi (AP), while the EE, NDF and ADF were higher for the PG. The CP and ME of maize, soya waste and soybean extraction meal were used as the supplement. The DM of Para grass of the first litter was low (13.8%), due to it was cut and fed in the rainy season. The CP content of AP was similar to that reported by Nguyen Thi Kieu Oanh (2013) being 18.3%.
Feed, nutrient and energy intakes of does in different treatments of the first litter are presented in Table 3.
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Table 3. Effect of AP levels replacing AP in diets on daily intake of Para grass, Arachis pintoi, total nutrient (gDM) and ME intakes of the does, first litter |
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Item |
Treatment |
ąSEM/P |
||||||
|
AP0 |
AP25 |
AP50 |
AP75 |
AP100 |
||||
|
Para grass (PG) |
53.4a |
40.2b |
27.6c |
10.9d |
0e |
15.9/0.001 |
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|
Arachis pintoi (AP) |
0 |
13.2d |
26.6c |
38.4b |
47.6a |
6.94/0.001 |
||
|
DM |
123 |
123 |
124 |
120 |
117 |
2.57/0.379 |
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|
OM |
94.7 |
94.3 |
95.4 |
92.0 |
89.2 |
2.27/0.317 |
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CP |
28.5b |
29.1ab |
30.2a |
30.5a |
30.7a |
0.38/0.002 |
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|
EE |
6.57a |
6.35a |
6.22ab |
5.84bc |
5.56c |
0.12/0.001 |
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|
NDF |
53.4a |
52.2a |
51.7ab |
48.3b |
45.7b |
1.54/0.009 |
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|
ADF |
37.3a |
35.6ab |
34.5ab |
31.2bc |
28.9c |
1.08/0.001 |
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|
ME (MJ/doe/d) |
1.34 |
1.34 |
1.34 |
1.32 |
1.20 |
0.02/0.571 |
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AP0, AP25, AP50, AP75, AP100: Arachis pintoi replacing Para grass at levels of 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% Para grass (DM). Means with different letters within the same row are significantly different at the 5% level |
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In Table 3 the PG and AP intakes in the treatments were relatively following the experimental design. The DM and OM intakes were not significantly different (p>0.05), while the CP intakes were different (p<0.05) among the treatments with the higher values for the AP75 and AP100 due to the higher CP content of the AP compared to the PG. The EE, NDF and ADF intakes were significantly different among the treatments with the lower value for the AP75 and AP100 treatments, while the ME intake was not different (p>0.05) among the treatments. In Fig 1 showed that there was a linear relationship between the crude protein (CP) intakes and the %AP replacing the PG in diets (R2=0.092), this allowed the does to improve crude protein in rabbit nutrition for reproduction.
 |
| Figure 1. Relationchip between CP intake of does and % AP replacing PG in litter |
The reproductive performance of does in different treatments of litter 1 was presented in Table 4.
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Table 4. Reproductive performance of does in different treatments, litter 1 |
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|
Item |
Treatment |
ąSEM/P |
||||||
|
AP0 |
AP25 |
AP50 |
AP75 |
AP100 |
||||
|
Gestation length (day) |
30.5 |
30.2 |
30.3 |
29.3 |
30.5 |
0.351/0.139 |
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|
LW of does after birth (kg) |
2.98 |
3.10 |
3.16 |
2.91 |
2.45 |
0.240/0.291 |
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|
DWG during pregnancy (g) |
12.3 |
17.3 |
14.4 |
15.6 |
14.3 |
2.07/0.548 |
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|
No. of live kittens at birth |
5.83b |
6.00b |
7.00a |
7.17a |
6.50ab |
0.223/0.001 |
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|
Litter weight of at birth (g) |
317b |
332ab |
362ab |
377a |
363ab |
13.1/0.019 |
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|
Daily milk produced of doe (g) |
73.2c |
86.5b |
95.3ab |
99.4a |
88.5b |
2.36/0.001 |
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|
Number of weaning kitten |
5.83b |
6.00b |
7.00a |
7.00a |
6.50ab |
0.213/0.001 |
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|
Litter weight at weaning (g) |
1,899b |
2,010b |
2,437a |
2.458a |
2,187ab |
71.7/0.001 |
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DWG: daily weight gain. Means with different letters within the same row are significantly different at the 5% level |
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The gestation length of does was not effected (P>0.05) by the replacing levels of PG by AP, and although the DWG of does during pregnancy was not significantly different among the treatments, however there was an improvement trend for the treatments with replacing AP to PG in diets. The litter size at birth, number of live kittens, litter weight at birth, number of weaning kitten, litter weight weaning and daily milk produced of doe were significantly different (P<0.05) among the treatments with better values for the AP50 and AP75 treatments (Table 4). The number of live kittens and litter weight at birth in the first litter of the experiment were from 5.83 to 7.17 and 317-377 g, respectively with the better values for the AP50 and AP75 treatment. Fadare and Fatoba (2018) reported that the average litter size at birth and litter weight at birth of Californian rabbit raised in Nigeria was 5.33 and 201 g, respectively. There was also a close relationship between the number of live kittens at birth and the %AP replacement to PG by the function y = -0.0003x 2 + 0.039x + 5.64 (R˛ = 0.773) with the gradual increase of the kittens from AP0 to AP75 (Fig. 2).
 |
| Figure 2. Effect of % AP replacing PG on N° of live kittens at birth en litter 1 |
The Chemical composition of feeds used in the second litter are presented in Table 5.
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Table 5. Chemical composition of feeds (% DM basis) used in the litter 2 |
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|
Item |
DM |
OM |
CP |
EE |
NDF |
ADF |
Ash |
ME, MJ/kgDM* |
||
|
Para grass |
13.5 |
89.8 |
12.2 |
4.91 |
63.6 |
45.3 |
10.2 |
8.70 |
||
|
Arachis pintoi |
14.9 |
89.2 |
18.0 |
3.46 |
55.3 |
33.2 |
10.8 |
8.94 |
||
|
Maize |
87.8 |
99.0 |
8.85 |
3.70 |
20.5 |
8.96 |
1.00 |
14.5 |
||
|
Soya waste |
10.3 |
95.3 |
21.5 |
10.3 |
32.8 |
24.8 |
4.70 |
11.2 |
||
|
Soybean extraction meal |
88.4 |
92.6 |
43.4 |
3.49 |
27.4 |
17.20 |
7.40 |
12.9 |
||
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DM: Dry matter, OM: Organic matter, CP: Crude protein, EE: Ether extract, NDF: Neutral detergent fiber, ADF: Acid detergent fiber and ME: Metabolizable energy, * Maertens et al (2002) |
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The chemical compositions of feeds in the litter 2 was similar to those of the litter 1, because of the short time after litter 1 and also in the same rainy season
Feed and nutrient intakes of does effected by the treatments in the litter 2 are showed in Table 6.
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Table 6. Effect of AP levels replacing PG in diets on daily PG, AP and total nutrient intakes (gDM) of the does, in litter 2 |
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|
Item |
Treatment |
ąSEM/P |
||||||
|
AP0 |
AP25 |
AP50 |
AP75 |
AP100 |
||||
|
Para grass |
58.1a |
44.6b |
30.0c |
11.8d |
0e |
16.9/0.001 |
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|
Arachis pintoi |
0e |
14.6d |
29.5c |
44.1b |
52.7a |
7.74/0.001 |
||
|
DM |
137 |
135 |
138 |
134 |
131 |
2.71/0.380 |
||
|
OM |
106 |
104 |
106 |
102 |
99.6 |
2.40/0.320 |
||
|
CP |
31.8b |
32.1b |
33.6ab |
33.9a |
34.2a |
0.42/0.001 |
||
|
EE |
7.34a |
6.99ab |
6.91ab |
6.48bc |
6.22c |
0.13/0.001 |
||
|
NDF |
59.6a |
57.5ab |
56.5ab |
53.7ab |
51.0b |
1.63/0.008 |
||
|
ADF |
41.6a |
39.2ab |
38.3ab |
34.7bc |
32.2c |
1.14/0.001 |
||
|
ME (MJ/doe/d) |
1.49 |
1.47 |
1.50 |
1.47 |
1.45 |
0.02/0.559 |
||
|
AP0, AP25, AP50, AP75 and AP100:
Arachis pintoi replacing Para grass at levels of 0, 25,
50, 75 and 100% (DM).
|
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 |
| Figure 3. Relationchip between CP intake (gDM) of does in litter 2 |
In the second litter, the DM, OM, CP, EE, NDF, ADF and ME intakes of does in the treatments were generally higher than those of the litter 1 due to higher live weight of does, however they relatively had the similar trend to the nutrient consumption to the first litter. Especially when increasing the AP replacement to the PG, the CP intake was gradually enhanced up to AP100 treatment. The CP intake (g/doe) was from 31.8 to 34.2. Iyeghe-Erakpotobor et al. (2008) showed that this was from 39.1 to 40.6 (g/doe) for New Zealand x Californian crossbred does with the diets of concentrate: forage being 20:80, 40:60, 60:40 and 80:20, respectively. NDF and ADF intakes were gradually reduced (P<0.05) from the AP0 to AP100 treatment and the effect of AP intake on the NDF intake was presented in Fig 3. This could improve the nutrient digestibility of does when increasing AP replacement to PG for both litters.
In Table 7 the reproductive performance of does in litter 2 was presented.
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Table 7. Reproductive performance of does of different treatments in litter 2. |
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|
Item |
Treatment |
ąSEM/P |
||||||
|
AP0 |
AP25 |
AP50 |
AP75 |
AP100 |
||||
|
Gestation length (d) |
29.8 |
30.8 |
30.5 |
29.83 |
30.3 |
0.34/0.197 |
||
|
LW of doe after birth (kg) |
3.03 |
3.16 |
3.26 |
2.96 |
2.96 |
0.11/0.276 |
||
|
DWG of does during pregnancy (g) |
15.6 |
19.5 |
17.1 |
22.0 |
17.9 |
1.75/0.136 |
||
|
Number of live kittens at birth |
6.17b |
6.50ab |
7.17ab |
7.50a |
6.83ab |
0.28/0.018 |
||
|
Litter weight of litter at birth (g) |
349b |
379b |
413ab |
454a |
386ab |
17.0/0.003 |
||
|
Daily milk produced of does (g) |
83.8b |
88.7b |
103a |
112a |
91.0b |
2.89/0.001 |
||
|
Number of weaning kittens |
6.00b |
6.50ab |
7.17a |
7.33a |
6.83ab |
0.24/0.004 |
||
|
Litter weight of at weaning (kg) |
1.99c |
2.23bc |
2.57ab |
2.67a |
2.37abc |
106/0.001 |
||
|
DWG: daily weight gain. Means with different letters within the same row are significantly different at the 5% level |
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Table 7 showed that there was no effect of gestation length in different treatments by the replacing levels of PG by AP, while the DWG of does during pregnancy had an improvement trend (P>0.05) for the treatments with replacing AP to PG in diets. Similar to the litter 1 other criteria such as the litter size at birth, number of live kittens, litter weight at birth, daily milk produced of doe, number of weaning kitten and litter weight at weaning were significantly different (P<0.05) among the treatments with the highest values for the AP75 treatments. The number of kitten and litter weight at weaning of Californian does in the litter 2 were from 6.0 to 7.33 and from 1.99 to 2.67 kg, respectively, while these in this breed were 3.15 and 1.03 kg in Nigeria, respectively with high mortality (39.0%) and low growth (Fadore and Fatima, 2018). Iyeghe-Erakpotobor et al. (2008) also stated that New Zealand x Californian crossbred does fed the diets from low to higher concentrate with higher DM and CP mentioned above, the number of kitten and litter weight at weaning were poor and from 3.67 to 4.25 and from 1,49 to 1.66 kg, respectively. In litter 2 relationship between daily milk produced and dietary CP intake of does was stated by the function y = -13.3x2 + 884x – 14583 (R˛ = 0.732) with the highest value of milk production for the AP75 treatment in Fig 4. This could support to the highest litter weight at weaning for the AP75 treatment, which was indicated in the Fig 5.
 |
 |
| Figure 4. Relationchip of daily milk production and dietary protein intake of does in litter 2 |
Figure 5. Effect of % AP replacing PG on weight of litter at weaning in litter 2 |
It was concluded that Arachis pintoi could be used in diets to improve dietary protein source and reproductive performance in Californian does, and at a level of 75% replacing to the Para grass was optimum.
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Wikipedia 2021 Arachis pintoi. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arachis_pintoi