Evaluación de la preferencia de consumo y digestibilidad aparente de forrajes en conejos (Oryctolagus cunículus) de la raza californiana

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to evaluate the consumption preference and digestibility in rabbits with different forages as a food alternative for them, thus employing five treatments through a completely randomized design completing a 32- day study. The treatments Avena sativa (T1), Lolium perenne (T2), Medicago sativa (T3), Zea mays (T4) and Malva sylvestris (T5) presented significant differences in the various parameters studied, thus determining that when assessing consumption preference, T1 (2386g) and T3 (2513g) statistically registered the best values compared to T5 (885g), which was the treatment with a lower total consumption during the experimental period, which would determine a better palatability in the treatments with higher consumption. Likewise, in productive parameters such as weight gain, it was noted that the T3 (1027.33g) and T1 (944.67g) treatments stood out, which presented a better weight gain unlike T2 (555.67g), which registered the lowest productive values of the research. At the same time, it was determined that forages such as T1 and T3 presented a better digestibility in dry matter (63.9%) and (59.7%) respectively, organic matter (63.8%) and (48.8%) as they presented a lower content of non-digestible fiber (FDA), which indicates that being a species that practices cecotrophy presents a better use of nutrients, which did not happen with T5, which presented a lower digestibility of nutrients in DM, MO, NDF and FDA which would be aligned with the limited efficiency of this forage and the presence of secondary compounds that also affect the consumption of these forages. This is how he highlights the importance of the implementation of highly palatable forages that also provide the necessary nutrients in the species in order to obtain positive productive parameters together with good digestibility.