FIBER AND STARCH LEVELS IN FATTENING RABBIT DIETS I

J. C. de Bias, G. S a n t o m ~ , Rosa Carabafio and Maria J. Fraga

E. T. S. Ingenieros A g r r n o m o s 2
Universidad Politdcnica de Madrid 3, Spain

ABSTRACT
Two assays were conducted to study the influence of diet composition in fattening rabbits. In
the first trial, 180 New Zealand rabbits were fed six diets of different fiber level (12.6 to 32.7%
acid detergent fiber, ADF). Minimal ADF, crude fiber (CF) or indigestible CF contents of 15.3,
11.7 and 9.8% were necessary to have a low diarrhea mortality rate; on the other hand, live weight
gain decreased for ADF contents higher than 24.6%. Fiber content of the diet influenced (P<.O01)
its digestive utilization. Dry matter, organic matter and crude protein digestibility decreased 1.17,
1.32 and .64 units, respectively, per each 1% increment in the ADF content of diet. Crude fiber
digestibility was higher (32.2 vs 17.5%) in the diet with the lowest fiber content. In a subsequent
trial, 112 New Zealand rabbits were fed seven diets varying in their fiber (9.8 to 32.7% ADF) and
starch (12.7 to 30%) contents in order to examine their effects on several digestive characteristics.
Diet had a significant influence on the weights of the stomach and its content. Diets with CF lower
than minimum to avoid digestive disorders were associated with an increase of the cecum contents
(P<.O01); on the other hand, a lower weight (P<.05) of soft feces in the stomach was found in the
diet with the lowest fiber content. Both facts suggest a relationship between a high diarrhea inci-
dence and a low rate of passage of digesta throughout the digestive tract. Considering the effect of
fiber, the starch content showed no effect on any of the variables studied.
(Key Words: Fiber, Starch, Growth, Rabbits, Digestibility, Diets.)

I ntroduction dations f r o m the w o r k because o f differences

Energetic c o n c e n t r a t i o n is one o f t h e main
variables in the f o r m u l a t i o n of diets for
growing-fattening rabbits. The lowest energetic
c o n c e n t r a t i o n corresponds to the m a x i m u m
fiber level t h a t still permits m a x i m u m g r o w t h
performances; this level is usually higher in rab-
bits than in o t h e r n o n r u m i n a n t species. How-
ever, the m a x i m u m energetic c o n c e n t r a t i o n
tolerated is l o w e r than for o t h e r species because
low fiber contents are associated in rabbits with
digestive disorders.
Despite n u m e r o u s research efforts to estab-
lish the effects o f dietary fiber level on g r o w t h
p e r f o r m a n c e o f rabbits ( H e c k m a n and Mehner,
1970; H o o v e r and Heitmann, 1972; Spreadbury
and Davidson, 1978; Paragi-Bini and Chiericato,
1980; Lebas et al., 1982; Partridge et al., 1984),
it is difficult to develop practical r e c o m m e n -
1 Financial support was provided by the Comisi6n
Asesora para la Investigaci6n Cientffica y T6cnica.
2Dept. de Nutr. Anim.
328040 Madrid.
Received August 15, 1985.
Accepted April 22, 1986.
a m o n g experiments in p o t e n t i a l growth o f ani-
mals and t y p e o f fiber used, and because o f a
low n u m b e r o f diets per e x p e r i m e n t .
The reasons for the correlation b e t w e e n a
low level o f fiber and a high diarrhea incidence
are unclear. Proto et al. (1968) and Laplace
(1978) suggest t h a t this is due to a decrease
in the rate o f digesta passage t h r o u g h o u t the
alimentary tract, while others (Cheeke and
Patton, 1980) suggest that the high levels of
starch i n h e r e n t to these diets p r o m o t e a carbo-
hydrate overload in the hind gut.
In this study, an initial trial was c o n d u c t e d
to d e t e r m i n e the effect o f diet fiber c o n t e n t on
p e r f o r m a n c e o f rabbits with a high potential for
growth. A n extensive variation in acid d e t e r g e n t
fiber ( A D F ) level was o b t a i n e d b y variation o f
the dietary percentage o f the m o r e usual
fibrous feeds. A second trial was c o n d u c t e d to
d e t e r m i n e the effects o f dietary fiber and starch
c o n t e n t on several digestive characteristics.
Materials and Methods
Diets. Ingredient c o m p o s i t i o n and chemical
analysis o f the feeds are s u m m a r i z e d in tables 1
and 2, respectively.

1897 J. Anirn. Sci. 1986, 63:1897-1904

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 1898 DE BLAS ET AL.

To study the effect of fiber level on growth ,-r,

traits, six diets (1 to 6) were formulated, de- 4.,
=o
creasing in barley and increasing in alfalfa hay
and straw. t~

The effects of fiber and starch on digestive

0 ~ 0 ~
traits were studied using diets 1, 3 and 6,
together with four other diets formulated
according to the following criteria: feeds l-L, eq

3-M and 3-H had a similar percentage of A D F I-4

on dry matter basis (DM) to 1 and 3, respec- ,d,

tively (12.5 and 20% ADF), but different levels .=.
of barley [33 (L), 43 (M) and 53% (H)], while
diet O-M contained the same level o f barley as
diet 1, but a lower percentage of ADF (9.8%).
The proportions of the other feedstuffs were o
varied in order to maintain an energy-to-protein
ratio of 23 to 25 kcal digestible energy per e-o
gram digestible protein (de Bias et al., 1981),
and to keep the levels of essential nutrients at eq
recommended levels (Lebas, 1980). A commer- rj.=
cial vitamin-mineral supplement was added to
all diets.
Chemical analysis was conducted according
to Van Soest (1963) for fiber and acid deter-
gent lignin, Robertson and Van Soest (1977) o
for neutral detergent fiber (NDF), EEC (1972)
for starch and the AOAC (1975) for DM, ash, F-.
crude protein (CP) and crude fiber (CF). o
Fattening Trial. One hundred eighty New =-<
Zealand White rabbits, weaned at 28 to 30 d, 8
were used; groups of three animals were al- .,4
lotted to different diets. Throughout the r..t.1

experiment, 20 animals died. The feed intake

of groups in which any animal died was not
used in the results. After a 5-d period of adapta- o9
tion of the diet, live weight gain, feed intake
and diarrhea mortality rate were recorded until gleq
.~ ~
the rabbits reached approximately 2 kg o f live
weight. en

Animals were located in an environmentally

semi-controlled closed building. Temperature ,,,,,.i

during the experimental period varied between

~eq
8 and 24.5 C (average 18.6 + 3.1). Rabbits
showing diarrhea symptoms were treated indi-
vidually with a compound 4 containing framyce-
tine, chloramphenicol and furazolidone. o= e~

Digestibility Trial. Another group of 56 New

Zealand White rabbits aged 2 to 2.5 mo were
used. Eight to eleven rabbits were allotted to
each diet, except for diet 5, which included

t~ t~
Polidisen, Laboratorios Ovejero, S.A. Le6n,
Spain. q:

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 F I B E R A N D S T A R C H 1N R A B B I T D I E T S 1899

only five rabbits. This difference was due to the

limited quantity of this feed that was available.
The animals were housed in metabolism cages
that allowed feces and urine separation; collec-
tions were made on four consecutive days.
Coprophagy was not prevented.
Digestive Measurements, A third group of
112 New Zealand White rabbits was handled in
a similar way as in the fattening trial, alloting a
minimum of 15 animals per diet. Rabbits were
slaughtered when they reached 2.0 kg of live
weight; slaughtering time was at 1800 (1600
solar time) in order to avoid the period of soft
feces excretion (Guidenne and Lebas, 1984).
The gastrointestinal tract was removed; the
stomach, cecum and their respective contents
were weighed separately. The pH of stomach
and cecum contents was measured using a
digital pH meter. Soft feces still intact in the
stomach were manually removed, weighed and
their pH registered.
Statistical Analysis. Least-squares, fixed
O model procedures were used (Harvey, 1972).
Z
9 Initial weight and age were introduced as
covariates only in growth traits analyses. The
9 residual mean square was used to test the
e~
significance o f all effects. A Duncan range test
O was used for mean separation.
u
<
Results
Fattening Trial. Fiber content of the diet
u affected growth traits (P<.001) and diarrhea
e4 mortality ( P < . I ; table 3). Least-squares means
for growth traits were adjusted for initial
< weight, which had a significant effect on these
variables. Both live weight gain (LWG) and feed
conversion rate (FCR) increased (.87 g/d and .19
g/g) for each 100 g increment in initial weight.
Live weight gain remained high (37 to 40
g/d), for A D F contents between 12.6 and
24.6%; from an A D F level of 20%, a linear de-
crease of LWG ( - . 7 8 g/d per each 1% increment
of A D F ) was observed. Feed conversion rate
increased continuously with increasing fiber
content of the diet. The linear increase was
about .035 or .14 g/g per each 1% increment of
A D F content, for diets varying between 12 to
20 or 20 to 32% ADF, respectively.
Diarrhea mortality rate of diet 1 (10%) was
e~
higher than those observed in the other diets
e~
(1.32% as average).
E Digestibility Trial. Digestibilities of dry mat-
ter (DMD, %), organic matter (OMD, %) and
crude protein (CPD, %), decreased linearly
(table 3) as the A D F content in the diet in-

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 1900 D E B L A S ET A L .

u~

v ~ v v
0

u.l

z~

v v v v v v

~z
z2~
v ~ ~ v v v

.si, ,i~

z~ v v ~

r
g
0

v v ~ ~ v

f~
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o~
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[...
~ o~

~ , o ~ ,~ "~.~,
.~ '~~ o ~ ..~
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 FIBER AND STARCH IN RABBIT DIETS
creased. These relationships were defined by
the following regressions:
DMD = 86,10 -- 1,17 ADF,
r =--.96, P<.001 ;
OMD = 90.41 -- 1.32 ADF,
r=--.97, P<.001 and
CPD = 84.49 -- .64 ADF,
r = - . 8 6 , P<.001.
The CF digestibility was higher (P<.001) in
the lowest A D F diet than in all the other diets
(32.26 vs about 17.5%).
Digestive Measurements. The effect of diet
on digestive characteristics is shown in table 4.
The diet had a significant influence on stomach
weight and its content, both increasing with the
A D F level of the diet. Total stomach weight ob-
tained with diet 6 (6.71% of live weight) was
twice the value obtained with diet O-M (3.34%
of live weight).
The weight of cecum contents was not af-
fected by diet when its A D F content was higher
than 20% (being 5.36% of live weight as aver-
age); however, cecum content increased signifi-
cantly for diets with lowest fiber content
(6.36, 6.93 and 7.34 in diets l-L, 1 and O-M,
respectively).
The pH o f the cecum content was different
(P<.05) in diets 6 (32% ADF) and O-M (9.8%
ADF).' 6.04 vs 5.66. No differences in the
cecum characteristics studied were found in
diets with similar levels of fiber but different
levels of starch (diets 1, l-L, 3, 3-M and 3-H).
The weight of e m p t y cecum was not influenced
by diet.
The weight of soft feces that remained intact
in the stomach at 1800 was not affected by
diets containing 12.6 to 20% ADF (averaging
16.2% of stomach content), but was different
(P<.05) in diets 6 and O-M, for which the soft
feces represented 31 and 8% of total stomach
content, respectively. Diet had no effect on the
pH of stomach content.
Discussion
Results in table 3 show that diet 1 (12.6%
ADF, 9.1% CF and 6.1% indigestible CF) was
associated with an increase of diarrhea mor-
tality, despite the fact that in unaffected
rabbits both growth rate and digestive utiliza-
tion of feed were high. Digestive disorders did
not occur in diet 2, which contained 15.3%
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1901
ADF, 11.7% CF and 9.8% of indigestible CF.
Because the A D F content of the diet appears
to be the index that predicts the digestible
energy content more accurately (de Bias et al.,
1984; Battaglini and Grandi, 1984), it would be
interesting to use A D F to formulate practical
recommendations on minimum fiber level.
However, at present there are few data ex-
pressed in this unit. Spreadbury and Davidson
(1978) suggested that 11.1% A D F of DM is
enough to avoid digestive disorders, but this
value is four units lower than that obtained in
this work.
Another characteristic used to express
recommendations of minimum fiber level in
rabbits is the indigestible fiber content of the
diet. This index has as an advantage its better
correlation with the ballast effect of fiber; how-
ever, practical utilization of this unit presents
difficulties derived from its variability. Crude
fiber digestibility is a function of fiber source
(Lebas, 1975), particle size (Laplace and Lebas,
1977) and, as shown in this work, fiber level
of the diet. Thus, despite its limitations, CF is
the more usual index to express the minimal
fiber requirements of rabbits. The minimal
fiber levels obtained in this work (11.7% CF
and 9.8% indigestible CF) are similar to the
recommendations of NRC (1977), and roughly
three units lower than those proposed by
Lebas (1980). Nevertheless, it seems convenient
to keep a security margin (two to three units)
to prevent risks of inadequate management,
suboptimal sanitation, or unbalanced diet
conditions.
The results of the fattening trial also per-
mitted determining the acceptable maximum
fiber level of the diet; thus, the rate of growth
did not diminish significantly for diets contain-
ing up to 24.6% A D F and 17.4% CF, as in diet
4, because rabbits compensated for a low diges-
tive utilization with a high feed intake. For
higher levels, intake did not increase signifi-
cantly, limiting rate of gain to 31 g/d on diet 6.
Other authors have reported data of maximum
fiber level slightly higher than ours: 22.2% CF
(Davidson and Spreadbury, 1975), 19.8% CF
(Lebas et al., 1982), 28.4% A D F (Paragi-Bini
and Chiericato, 1980) and 26.3% A D F (Part-
ridge et al., 1984).
Fiber content of the diet also had an effect
on several digestive characteristics. The increase
of stomach content with the crude fiber level of
the feed (table 4) may be related to the higher
feed intake observed in diets of low energetic
 1902 DE BLAS ET AL.

o ,L

9 Z

oxeqo te~00
t', ~-.-t 'q~ o x t',q ~..~ L~ eq

U
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[- %,,~.
r~ ',~ eq 00 ' , * ",O O te~
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e~

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eq ~-4
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Z

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r e~
tt~ v-t e q
t ' - O '~- Ox It'~ t'~ B~
0 0 ,,-~
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to
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~'Z
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 FIBER AND STARCH IN RABBIT DIETS
concentration. The significant influence of fiber
level on the weight of empty stomach could be
explained by an adaptation to a greater intake
and, therefore, to the need to support a greater
weight of feed. Similar evidence has been re-
ported in swine by Pekas et al. (1983). Further-
more, the differences in the weight of stomach
content may be magnified by the greater weight
of soft feces found in the stomachs of rabbits
fed with the most fibrous diet. At 1800 all rab-
bits fed diets of more than 11.7% CF contained
intact soft feces in their stomachs, compared
with a percentage of 35% of those fed with
other diets (O-M, 1, 1-L and 3-H). At this time
the pH value of soft feces was not different
from that of the stomach content, in agreement
with Guidenne and Lebas (1984), who reported
a low persistence of the soft feces buffering
effect.
The weight of cecal contents did not vary
with the level o f fiber in the diets that were n o t
associated with digestive disorders in fattening
trials (see table 3). However, in feeds with fiber
content lower than the minimal recommenda-
tions (5.1 and 9.1% of CF), the weight o f cecal
contents increased about 30 and 20%, respec-
tively, over the mean value obtained for the rest
of the diets. This fact suggests that a minimal
level o f fiber is required to regulate an adequate
flow of cecal digesta. At the same time, if the
weight of soft feces in the stomach is related to
its production, the rate o f removal o f cecal con-
tent is reduced in diets with low fiber content.
Both effects of a lack of fiber imply an accumu-
lation of cecal material that, in unfavorable
conditions, may produce digestive disorders,
though in healthy animals this accumulation
may be the origin of greater fiber digestibility
(table 3). On the other hand, the significant
differences observed in the pH of cecum con-
tents between diets O-M and 6 may indicate a
different pattern of microbial fermentations.
Proto et al. (1968) and Laplace (1978) have
already reported a relationship between diar-
rhea incidence and low rate o f passage of the
digesta throughout the digestive tract.
In this work, the fiber level of the diet
explains the main variations observed in the
growth or digestive parameters studied. Our
results suggest that, in order to study diets
implying risks o f digestive disorders, the weight
of cecum contents (or the total cecum weight)
could be a more objective measurement than
the highly variable mortality rate. Neverthe-
less, more information is needed to extrapolate
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1903
this conclusion to the other circumstances in
which a high incidence of mortality has been
observed.
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 1904 DE BLAS ET AL.

(2nd Ed.). National Academy of Sciences-
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