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Feeding rabbits on coarse fodder

By rough feed, we mean those feeds such as grass, vegetables, green leaves, hay, and these feeds are of less value than grains, etc., but they are very important because they contain a percentage of fiber, which although difficult to digest, is an essential part of the rabbit diet, as it helps the digestive system to It works efficiently, in addition to being a useful source of energy as well, and if the rabbit's meal does not contain enough energy, this leads to problems:

Rabbits

Feed amount:

The amount of fiber needed in the meal depends on what the rabbit eats. Lactating females and young growing rabbits need more high-quality feed, so that the females can produce milk for their young and also so that the young growing rabbits can grow quickly. Their diets should contain about 12: 14% fiber, meaning that every 100 grams of feed should contain 12: 14 grams of fiber, and adult rabbits that are not intended for pollination can be fed a high meal in which the percentage of fiber reaches about 25% of fiber in the diet.

And medium-sized adult rabbits weighing 4: 5 kg can eat 1 kg of fresh cannabis per day. If rabbits are given large quantities of fresh green plants, they may get diarrhea and their stomachs will swell. To prevent that, some of the feed must be dry, such as hay with plants. fresh green.

When and how to feed coarse fodder?

Rabbits are clean animals and will not eat contaminated and dirty fodder. As soon as coarse fodder is provided to them on the floor of their cages, it will become dirty and then lost. It is advisable to put it in a hay feeder or tied to the sides or in the roof of the ward. Rabbits also love fresh fodder, so coarse fodder must be available. Fresh two to three times a day, and because rabbits are more active in the evening and early morning, it is a good idea to provide them with plenty of feed in the evening. Also, fresh coarse fodder will not wither quickly in the evening, especially on hot days.

Examples of roughage:

Rough fodder is either dry like hay or fresh like grass. Rabbits generally prefer fodder, root crops and other types of rough fodder.

Dry roughage:

Hay made of grass and legumes (alpha alpha) at the flowering stage is considered a high-quality coarse fodder. Examples of types of hay are the following:

Legume Hays:

Legumes are considered one of the best materials for feeding rabbits. Alfalfa is also one of the best because it contains a high percentage of protein and is preferred by rabbits. Dressing can be used to feed male rabbits that are used for pollination, dry females, and the herd to replace 40% of the diets of pregnant and lactating females. There is another advantage For hay, as it provides the level of fiber necessary for the health and vitality of rabbits, and all types of alfalfa are considered the best legumes, except for sweet clover. The specifications of a good hay are that the moisture content does not exceed 20% so that there is no chance for fungi to grow, and that it is green in color after drying and contains whole leaves and an acceptable odor, free from mud, mold and weeds. When used for feeding, it is cut to 3 or 4 inches, and this is not suitable for hay as a single fodder, and it is used at a rate of 25% of the concentrated ration.

Grass Hays:

Commercial rations for rabbits contain 40% crushed alfalfa hay in addition to some other legumes. However, hay hay can be used successfully in rabbit rations in order to maintain nutritional diets. However, it should be noted that hay is low in protein, calcium and vitamin A and high in protein. Its fiber content and animal susceptibility to it are low. Examples of hay are horticultural grasses and Bermuda grass, which may be equal in value to alfalfa despite its low cost.

When feeding on the hay, it is necessary to make sure that it is free of impurities and fungi.

Fresh (green) rough fodder:

Green fodder is considered the natural food for rabbits as it contains minerals and vitamins (especially vitamin A) and is considered essential for small farms and is not used in large farms as its increased consumption leads to a decrease in the consumption of concentrated feed and thus to a defect in the fattening process. The green fodder differs in terms of type depending on the environment and the different agricultural seasons, the most important of which is alfalfa.

There are many types of fresh (green) rough fodder, such as:

# Grass: Many grasses can be used to feed rabbits, such as pasture grass and clipped grass, but because they contain a large amount of moisture, the balance of the diet must be taken into account to avoid nutritional disturbances. It should also be noted that some of them are worthless and contain toxic substances.

Green grain plants such as corn and sorghum.

Roots and tubers:

When fresh green fodder is not available in winter, roots and tubers can be added to rabbit diets, as they are highly palatable and a good source of vitamins and minerals despite their high moisture content (90%) and low protein content (1:4%). Therefore, they should not be added at high levels. High for the diet, and a shortage of some nutrients may occur as a result of the preference of rabbits feeding on roots and tubers, and preferring them over other high-value foods. Therefore, they must be provided in diets at a limited rate that does not exceed 1.5% of body weight for preservative diets. As for productive rabbits, they should not be provided to them.

Examples of roots are turnips, carrots, sweet potatoes, yams, beets, and taro.

Green vegetables:

such as green cabbage leaves, spinach, chicory, lettuce, parsley, berries. And the best of them all is the chicory, and its importance comes in terms of being a regulating element. Also, the berries have strong astringent properties and are useful in treating diarrhea of young rabbits.

Miscellaneous foods:

Many non-traditional foods can be used in rabbit diets, such as those obtained from gardening waste or restaurant waste. Care must be taken not to use fats, meat and spoiled food when feeding rabbits, but gardening waste and low-priced vegetables can be used more appropriately.

Miscellaneous roughages

Fruit waste can be used to feed rabbits. For example, potato peel and the pulp and peel of citrus fruits such as apples are often considered a cheap source of feeding rabbits, but there are precautions that must be taken into account when using fruit pulp, as rabbits eat in this case quantities of fiber.

Shrubs and trees:

Tree branches may be used to feed rabbits, and these are characterized by containing a high percentage of fibers that stimulate chewing, such as the leaves of banana plants, various shrubs, and the remains of deciduous fruit trees.

clover:

Alfalfa can be used for feeding so that it covers half of the needs of rabbits and the other half of the concentrated diet, and this is better than feeding on alfalfa alone. Likewise, feeding rabbits on alfalfa at first, then gradually increasing the concentrated materials until they stop consuming coarse materials, is better than feeding on concentrated materials at the beginning. A carat of alfalfa is enough to feed 40 females with its produce during the season.

When feeding rabbits on green fodder materials, the following points should be noted:

1. All green food must be washed well before being offered to rabbits.

2. Green crops that have been sprayed with pesticides should be avoided.

3. Green crops that have been used in large quantities of fertilizers should be avoided.

4. The leaves must be examined to detect any symptoms of disease or infection with worms or parasites.

5. Plants that have produced seeds whose nutritional value is less than the small and juicy ones, and plants with a high fiber content are more difficult to digest.

6. Root plants must be examined well to avoid any disease symptoms.

7. The green crops should be completely free of alien plants and weeds.

8. The green crops must have been collected on the same day, otherwise there will be dew on them.

9. When collecting green plants, expose them to the sun so that they do not ferment and decompose, causing digestive disorders in rabbits.

10. Green foods are placed in the threshing trough and are not thrown on the floor of the boxes.

11. Food that rabbits do not accept must be removed before new green food is put in place.

12. Fresh green food and root crops should be used as additives to the concentrated part of the feed, and good results can be obtained when using a mixture of them.

Using Azolla as a molecular replacement for traditional proteins in rabbit and poultry diets:

Poultry production in developing countries suffers from a shortage of fodder. Many of the traditional materials used as raw materials are included in the formulations of poultry feeds, such as soybean meal, which have become very expensive.

Research has shown the possibility of substituting local raw materials and non-traditional sources for the raw materials of imported and high-priced feeds, and then there was an urgent need to search for alternative protein sources. Aquatic plants can provide an inexpensive feedstock for poultry and rabbits and as a molecular replacement for the higher priced conventional proteins in laying hens diets. Aquatic plants are classified under floating species (Aquatic Basant and Azolla).

Azolla is found in canals, rice fields, and wet places, whether in moderate or hot climates. Sun-dried azolla is a good source of protein and carbohydrates, even if its ash content is high.

Benefits of Azolla:

• It is successfully used in agriculture as a natural nitrogen fertilizer due to its ability to fix nitrogen.

• A good food source for humans.

• Water Purification.

• A good and cheap food source for animals, poultry and fish.

• It absorbs high sodium ions from the water, which the plant cannot use directly.

There are many factors that affect the nutritional composition of Azolla and it is recommended to feed on it before it is fully ripe (at an age not exceeding twenty days) so that it is soft, juicy and low in fiber. The content of Azolla in protein and fat is superior to that of wheat, but the nutritional composition of Azolla differs according to the seasons and the method of cultivation. One hectare (10,000 square meters) of Azolla produces about 6-8 tons of dry matter per month, and 450-720 kg of crude protein. The content of Azolla ranges from crude protein between 23-30% and is characterized by a good content of essential amino acids, except for lysine, methionine and histidine. Therefore, Azolla is not suitable as a sole source of proteins for monogastric animals (such as rabbits). Azolla has a relatively low fiber content (11-13% on a dry matter basis) while the ash content is as low as 20%.

An experiment was conducted on forty New Zealand rabbits at the age of 6 weeks, and the experiment continued until the age of 13 weeks. The aim of the experiment was to study the effect of using Azolla by replacing alfalfa hay by (10, 20, 30%) on growth performance, feed consumption, feed conversion, digestion parameters, nutritional value, carcass characteristics and meat quality.

The addition of Azolla to diets resulted in:

• Achieving a significant increase in body weight in all periods, and the comparison groups recorded the least daily increase during most of the studied periods.

• Achieving a significant increase in food consumption, and the level of Azolla had no significant effect on the conversion rate.

• Achieving an increase in the digestion coefficients for all the elements except for the crude fiber, and the presence of 10% Azolla in the diet led to the best values for the digested compounds and the digested energy.

• There were no significant differences in the chemical composition of fresh and frozen rabbit meat fed on Azolla.

Plant fiber:

It is the fiber fraction of feed materials that are similar to the structural carbohydrates in the plant. In the past, it was measured as crude fiber, but in recent years, the term means Cell Wall Constituents (CWC), as well as Acid-Detergent Fiber. These two types of fibers continued to be used, and the first type (CWC) contains hemicellulose, cellulose, lignin, and silica, while the second type (ADF) contains cellulose, lignin, and silica.

So far, little is known about the digestibility coefficients of these two types of fiber

Given that rabbits are herbivorous herbivores, it is known that they are able to benefit from plant fibers, and the following presents the results of some research related to the extent of benefiting from them and shows the opposite of what is expected, as one of the two studies (1969) showed that the rate of digestion of raw fibers of Alfalfa is 18.1% When feeding rabbits on it, while the rates of digestion in horses and guinea pigs were 34.7 and 38.2%, respectively. Another research (1974) showed that the rate of digestion of cellulose was 16.1% and hemocellulose 24.7% in rabbits, and the corresponding numbers were 20.7% and 25.9% for mice.

And other research supports the lack of rabbits' ability to benefit from plant fibers, but despite that, there is evidence confirming that fibers are of great importance in rabbits' food, as the presence of fibers is a necessary element for the digestive tract to function normally.

Some research indicated that the feed in which the percentage of fiber is less than 6% leads to diarrhea. While others indicate that cases of diarrhea may occur if the percentage of fiber is less than 12%, and in order for the fiber to be assimilated, celluloytic bacteria or protozoa must be present in the cecum and/or colon.

Feed change process:

The process of changing the type of feed provided to rabbits is a risky process, as this is usually accompanied by loss of appetite, lack of palatability, and a decrease in the amount of feed intake, which consequently affects the productivity of the herd. This may cause intestinal confusion for rabbits. And if the breeder is forced to change the feed, he must mix part of the used feed with the new feed gradually and not completely, as follows: in three periods of length, each period of 3-4 days, the first 3/4 used feed + 1/4 new feed and the second 1/2 Used fodder + 1/2 new fodder, the third 1/4 used fodder + 3/4 new fodder, and finally 100% new fodder.

Feed storage:

Feed is placed in low temperature places with renewed ventilation, free of insects, and out of reach of other animals such as dogs and cats. In such conditions, feed can be stored for about 3 months. However, under bad storage conditions and high temperature and humidity, fungi usually activate and secrete toxic substances, as well as harmful bacteria, which reduces the storage capacity of these feeds.

Feeders and racks for green fodder: Feed Troughs and Racks

Cages should have feeders for grain or pellets, as well as holders for hanging green matter. In general, these feeders must be easy to clean and non-transmissible, and they must also be easy to remove and install and easy to fill from outside the cage without the need to open the cage doors, and they must also provide protection from bad weather and rodents, and the green diet holder must accommodate a diet for one day The trough can accommodate food for 2-3 days, and the pregnant penis must be strong to withstand the teeth of rabbits.