Influence of Weaning Age and Housing System on Carcass Traits and Meat Quality of V-Line and Moshtohor Rabbits

Document Type : Original Article

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Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Benha University, Egypt

Abstract

The aims of this study was to investigate the influence of rabbits breed (Moshtohor and V-line), weaning age (28 and 35 days) and housing system (cages and floor type) on carcass traits and meat quality by using 120 male rabbits divided into two breed groups (60 Moshtohor rabbits and 60 V-line rabbits) each breed divided into two weaning groups (30 rabbits weaned at 28 days and 30 rabbits weaned at 35 days) each weaning group divided into two housing systems groups (15 rabbits raised in cages and 15 rabbits raised in floor). All experimental rabbits were fed concentrate feed mixture according to National Research Council, NRC (2004) recommendation based on the rabbits live body weight. Diets were offered twice daily in equal quantities at 8:00 and 16:00 and estimated for each group every day. Both of the consumed diets and refusals if any were recorded daily. All rabbits in each group individually weekly weighed from 5 to 13 weeks of age. Three rabbits from each group were randomly chosen at the end of the experimental period for slaughter test. Results showed that Moshtohor rabbits weaned at 35 days of age reared in cages had a higher carcass traits and meat quality than the other ones. Thus, we can concluded and recommended from this results that rabbits breeders can using Moshtohor rabbits, reared in cages and weaned at 35 days of age to earn the highest carcass traits and meat quality.

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