M M Alfuraiji', P J Broadbent', J S M Hutchinson 1,2, D F Dolman1, T Atkinson2 1School of Agriculture

Abstract

A study was conducted to evaluate the influence of added salt on performance of 30 New Zealand White rabbits. They were randomly divided into three groups equalizing the sexes and weights and were kept in individual cages and were fed a basal diet composed of 2634 Kcal/kg Digestible Energy and 16% crude protein ad libitum for a total of 86 days. There was no significant difference in initial average weight of the rabbits fed 0.0% added salt (1504.0 ± 230.1g) 0.25% added salt (1563.2 ± 197.1g) or ~50% added salt (1538.2 ± 163.8%). The daily intake of the rabbits fed diets containing 0.00 (diet 1), .25% (diet 2) and .50% (diet 3) added salt was 80.2 ± 6.5g, 82.1 ± 3g and 88.6 ± 1.6g, respectively. The daily intake of rabbits fed diet 3 was significantly higher (P<.05) than those fed diets 1 or 2. However, there was no significant difference (P>.05) in intake between those rabbits fed diets 1 or 2. The average daily gain of the rabbits fed diets 1, 2 and 3 was 5.6 ± 1.0g, 10.1 ± 1.1g and 11.0 ± 1.3g, respectively. Daily gain of the rabbits fed diet 3 was significantly higher (P<.05) than the daily gain of the rabbits fed diet 1, but there was no significant different (P>.05) between the daily gains of those fed diets 3 or 2. Final weight of the rabbits fed diet 1(1986.7 ± 233.8g) was 19.2% smaller than the final weight of those fed either diet 2(2428.9 ± 166.g) or diet 3(2486.9 ± 66.1g). The rabbits fed diets 1, 2 and 3 required 22.1 ± 5.3g, 9.5 ± 1.5g and 9.4 ± 1.4 feed per g gain, respec¬tively. The rabbits fed diets 2 and 3 had similar feed efficiency