Effects of a short-term feed restriction on growth performance, blood metabolites and hepatic IGF-1 levels in growing rabbits

[EN] A total of 144 weaned hybrid HYLA rabbits (40-day-old) were randomly divided into 4 groups, to investigate the effects of the intensity of one week’s feed restriction on short- and medium-term growth performance, blood metabolites and hepatic IGF-1 in growing rabbits. Restricted groups were fed with 30% (Group L30), 50% (Group L50) 70% (Group L70) of ad libitum feeding for 1 wk and then fed ad libitum until the end of the experiment (75 d of age). The control group (Group AL) was fed ad libitum throughout the experiment. Total feed intake (–15.8%) and feed conversion ratio (–13.2%) were lower in the L50 than in the AL group (P0.05) for these parameters. Total weight gain did not significantly differ among the 4 experimental groups (38.5 g/d; P>0.05). At the end of the feed restriction period, the total serum protein level (P=0.01) was higher in restricted rabbits than AL rabbits (P0.05) throughout the experiment. In conclusion, a short-term feed restriction improves feed conversion ratio in a lasting way, transiently alters serum protein and IFG-1 levels and leads to compensatory growth in growing rabbits.This work was supported by the Special Public Welfare Industry (Agriculture) Research Program of China (Grant No. 201303144) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. XDJK2013C096).Lu, J.; Shen, Y.; He, Z.; Dai, X.; Wang, D.; Zhang, J.; Li, H. (2017). Effects of a short-term feed restriction on growth performance, blood metabolites and hepatic IGF-1 levels in growing rabbits. World Rabbit Science. 25(3):233-239. doi:10.4995/wrs.2017.6478.SWORD23323925