Effect of replacing commercial food with nutritional blocks on the productive response of rabbits under tropical conditions

Abstract

In Mexico, derived from the high cost of inputs to prepare balanced feed and commercial concentrates, alternatives and strategies based on the use of unconventional raw materials should be sought. The use of nutritional blocks that provide the necessary requirements and that replaces commercial foods and thus lowers costs has been proposed. The objective of this study was to determine the dry matter intake, weight gain and economic income in rabbits fed with commercial food and nutritional blocks. The experimental design was completely randomized and the means of the treatments were compared using Tukey's test. The treatments (T) were randomly assigned to 10 first-time F1 female rabbits (Butterfly * New Zealand, 2.26 kg LW): T1: commercial food (Api-Aba®), T2: nutritional block. The evaluations included dry matter intake (DMS), daily weight gain (GDP). At the end of the study, the economic income was evaluated. The results obtained showed that when the nutritional block was offered, food consumption decreased by 11 and 68 g d-1 (p<0.05) during gestation and lactation, respectively. There were no differences (p>0.05) in GDP in the gestation, lactation stage or in the weaning kits. On the other hand, the economic income was 2.3% higher in the rabbits fed with nutritional block. The use of nutritional blocks replaces 17% of commercial feed, which suggests that it is a viable option in feeding rabbits, since it does not affect their weight and that of rabbits, as well as being a cheaper option.