Trace elements transformation in young rabbit muscles

Abstract

According to scientific publications, transformation of nutrients in the rabbit feed should be studied with regard to rabbit nutritional specifics that is caused by differences of alimentary canal of the species, involving microorganism role in the digestive process. In the experiment, The research considered the transformation of essential micronutrients of feed (Zn, Cu, and Mn) and their concentration in muscle carcasses of rabbits of differentl age and origine, in industrial rabbit production in Prykarpatyia. Feeding norms and nutrient requirements for experimental animals were performed according to rabbit nutrition requirements approved by the VIII International Rabbit Congress (EGRAN tables, 2004). It has been found out that supplying rabbits of different genotypes with the same nutrition affect the retention of studied micronutrients in certain muscles carcasses differently. The experiment demonstrated that the longest back muscle of a 3-month old new hybrid rabbit (NTC) contented the highest amount of zinc and accounted 6.78 � 0.118 mg kg-1 which was by 1.43 mg kg-1 (p =0.001) more than in the rabbits of the local chinchilla (second group). It is proved that the greatest amount of cuprum was concentrated in the hip carcasses of rabbits of the first group (NTC). This rabbit genotype (first group) dominated over the local breed (the second group) regarding this indicator, when the animals were 2 and 3 months old, by 0.15 and 0.49 mg kg-1 respectively (p=0.01). The content of manganese in the muscles of the hips was also higher in the newly-selected three-breed during all the farming period. Thus, at the age of 2 months, rabbits of the first group outweighed their peers in the second group by 6.52 mg kg-1 (p=0.05), at the age of 3 months - by 1.57 mg kg-1 (p=0.01) and at the age of 4 months - by 0.89 mg kg-1 (p0.01). The three-breed rabbit genotype of of the first group was dominated by pure-breed analogues of the second group in terms of weight gain and feed conversion by 7.5 and 3.4% respectively. Due to better transformation of these trace elements, in the body of intensively growing rabbits, the environment is less polluted. The highest concentration of these trace elements was found in the rabbit muscles of both groups in the 3rd month of life. The highest content of the micronutrients studied was observed in the longest and suprascapular muscle of rabbits. The prospects of further research on the study of the transformation of other heavy minerals in industrial cultivation of rabbits has been overviewed.