Analysis of Common Feed Types and Nutritional Components for Meat Rabbits

Feed additives refer to certain trace components added to feed to supplement nutritional components, improve feed utilization, and promote the growth and health of meat rabbits. At present, the following are mainly commonly used in meat rabbit production:

1. Pharmaceutical additives

1. Olaquindox: pale yellow crystalline powder, a broad-spectrum antibacterial growth promoter, with antibacterial activity stronger than chloramphenicol, penicillin, and bacitracin zinc. It is absorbed rapidly in the body of meat rabbits, excreted completely, has no accumulative effect, and has the effect of promoting growth. The commonly used addition dosage is 25-30 mg/kg.

2. Bacitracin zinc: yellow-brown or brown powder, with the effect of significantly reducing the incidence of enteritis in meat rabbits, promoting growth, and improving feed utilization. The commonly used addition dosage is 30-50 mg/kg.

3. Kitasamycin: white or light yellow powder, with functions such as preventing diseases in meat rabbits, promoting growth, and improving feed conversion rate. The commonly used addition amount is 250-300 mg/kg.

It must be pointed out that the use of pharmaceutical additives, especially antibiotics, should not be used alone for a long time. When used, the addition dosage must be strictly controlled, and various antibiotics should be used alternately.

2. Amino acid additives

1. Lysine: when deficient, growing meat rabbits are very sensitive in response, often causing growth stagnation and nitrogen balance disorder. In the diet of Angora rabbits based mainly on cereal feed, lysine is one of the most easily deficient essential amino acids. According to the nutritional needs of meat rabbits, the requirement for lysine in the diet is 0.6%-0.8%.

2. Methionine: the most important sulfur-containing amino acid among the essential amino acids. When deficient, it often leads to poor growth and weight loss. In the diet, methionine is often calculated together with cystine, and the requirement for the sum of the two is 0.6%-0.7%.

3. Tryptophan: when meat rabbits are deficient in tryptophan, it often causes growth stagnation, weight loss, atrophy of the testes in male rabbits, and decreased reproductive capacity in female rabbits. According to nutritional needs, the requirement for tryptophan in the diet is 0.18%-0.22%.

It must be pointed out that when determining the amount of amino acids to add, one should first measure or consult a nutritional composition table, determine the amino acid content in the feed, calculate the difference between the two according to the above standards, and then add it, so as to avoid waste.

1. Vitamin A: yellow crystals, extremely easily oxidized and destroyed under light and in air. The commonly required dosage is that each kilogram of diet for growing rabbits should contain 580 international units of vitamin A.

2. Vitamin E: colorless crystals, extremely easily oxidized and destroyed under light and in air. Each kilogram of diet for growing rabbits should contain 50 mg of vitamin E.

3. Vitamin D: colorless crystals, not easily oxidized, but extremely easily destroyed when mixed with calcium carbonate. Each kilogram of diet for growing rabbits should contain 900 international units of vitamin D.

The above vitamins must be appropriately added according to the vitamin content and activity of the diet. In actual production, the combined form of vitamin additives mostly uses multivitamin additives. When used, they must be expanded and premixed before addition.

4. Trace element additives

In meat rabbit production, the trace elements supplemented by trace element additives mainly include iron, copper, zinc, cobalt, manganese, iodine, selenium, etc. When adding them to the diet of meat rabbits, first, the nutritional requirement and the surplus or deficiency in the compound feed should be found out. Second, the percentage content of a certain trace element in the mineral salts used should be mastered. Finally, they must be mixed evenly.

Toxic components in meat rabbit feed :

Some commonly used feeds for meat rabbits contain certain toxic components. When the toxic components are below the critical level of poisoning, they will not cause adverse consequences. If they are above the critical level, they will harm the health of meat rabbits, and even cause poisoning and death. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the properties and contents of toxic components in feed.

1. Trypsin inhibitor. In biochemical structure, this type of substance is a polypeptide composed of amino acid residues. It is not destroyed in the stomach. After entering the small intestine, it combines with trypsin to form a complex, causing trypsin to lose activity, thereby hindering the digestion of protein. In addition, the complex is not decomposed in the small intestine. After entering the large intestine, it can be degraded by microorganisms or excreted in feces, thereby causing the rabbit body to lose most of its protein. Among commonly used feeds for meat rabbits, soybean has a particularly high content of trypsin inhibitor (up to 10.7 micrograms/g). If meat rabbits are fed raw soybeans for a long time, pancreatic compensatory enlargement and protein indigestion can occur. High-temperature treatment can destroy trypsin inhibitor. For example, in hot-pressed soybean cake, trypsin inhibitor can be reduced to 3.4 micrograms/g, and cooking soybeans can basically eliminate this substance.

2. Goitrogenic substances. Under the action of myrosinase in feed or in the animal body, glucosinolates can produce substances that prevent the thyroid from utilizing iodide ions in the blood, block the synthesis of thyroxine, and cause goiter and metabolic disorders in the body. Although rapeseed cake is rich in nutrients, its glucosinolate content is as high as 10-13%, and the current detoxification treatment methods are not ideal in effect and economic significance, so the practical value of rapeseed cake is not great. In addition, green feeds such as cabbage and cauliflower also contain goitrogenic substances, and should be fed in appropriate amounts.