Reproductive performance of rabbit does fed diets based on Leucaena leucocephala

  • Ana T. Rivera Universidad de Puerto Rico
  • Ernesto Riquelme Villagrán Universidad de Puerto Rico
  • John Fernandez Universidad de Puerto Rico
Keywords: rabbits, Leucaena, reproduction

Abstract

Forty females were used to study the effects of the inclusion of native leucaena leaf meal (LLM, 3.87% mimosine) in the diet on ovulation, fertilization, implantation, litter size, litter weight and weaning weight. The basal diet (L-0) was a commercial type diet (17% protein, 16% fiber, 3.0 Mcal DE / kg) and contained 50% ground grass hay. The LLM at 25 (L-25) or 50 (L-50)% of the DM, replacing the hay. A fourth treatment consisted of supplementing the L-50 diet with 0.6% ferrous sulfate (L-50-S). At seven and fourteen days after breeding, three females from each group were sacrificed and the weight of the ovaries (0W]] and the number of corpora lutea (CL) and implantations (IMP) were recorded. The rest of the females were allowed to reach term and litter size (LZ), birth weight (BWT) and weaning weight (WWT) There were significant treatment effects (P <.05) in OWT, CL and IMP at seven and fourteen days post-reproduction. The means of OWT, CL and IMP at seven days were: diet L-0, 1.039, 8.99 and 8.00; diet L-25, 1.669, 8.00 and 5.34; diet L-50, 1.36g, 10.34 and 9.33; and diet L-50 -S, 0.84, 9, 9.33, and 7.34, respectively. These results show that mimosine affects embryo survival and does not interfere with ovulation, fertilization, and implantation. The addition of sulfate Ferrous to diets protects against this negative effect, but the litter is weaker and shows a reduced growth rate from birth to weaning.

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Author Biography

Ernesto Riquelme Villagrán, Universidad de Puerto Rico
Catedrático Departamento de industria Pecuaria
Published
1993-12-30
How to Cite
Rivera, Ana T., Ernesto Riquelme Villagrán, and John Fernandez. 1993. “Reproductive Performance of Rabbit Does Fed Diets Based on Leucaena Leucocephala”. Archivos Latinoamericanos De Producción Animal 1 (2), 147-61. https://ojs.alpa.uy/index.php/ojs_files/article/view/2409.
Section
Original paper