Effect of incremental Arachis pintoi levels to improve dietary protein and reproductive performance of Californian rabbit

Abstract

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.