Effect of different feed grinding fineness on the performances and digestive efficiency of growing rabbits

In this research two experiments were carried out. In the first we studied the effect of commercial feeds, differing in the grinding level of their constituents (group C fed a diet milled with the processing used for commercial feeds, group F and group G that received the same diet ground more finely or coarsely, respectively), on growth performances of rabbits and on some characteristics of the caecum and its content. The second, an in vivo digestibility experiment, was carried out to study the influence of the same diets on the digestive efficiency of growing rabbits. The different particle size of the feeds did not significantly influence feed intake, weight gain and feed efficiency or slaughtering parameters of growing rabbits. The different grinding level of diets did not influence the apparent faecal digestibility of dry matter, organic matter and gross energy, while that of cell walls polysaccharides significantly decreased in F group rabbits (P<0.01). The different particle size had no effects on the caecal content characteristics neither anatomohystopatological lesions were found. Rabbit exhibit a great capacity to fit to diets with particle size classes somewhat different.[...