Effect of providing different drench solutions on lactating does and suckling kits

Abstract

The growing of kits is affected by the genetic background, the maternal (milk production and nursing behavior) and environmental effects. The aim of this study was to examine the willingness and effect of auto-consumption of liquid and powder based drench solutions on does and kits. Two experiments were conducted at Kaposvár University. Experiment 1: 24 does were divided into three groups: Control: ad libitum access of water from two drinkers; Liquid-based drench: ad libitum access of water from one drinker and 5% drench solution by volume from the other drinker; Powder-based drench: ad libitum access of water from one drinker and 5% drench solution by weight from the other drinker. Methodology of experiment 2 was similar, however the provision of drench solution was limited to twice a week (24 h). In both experiments rabbits willingly consumed the solutions, preference of powder-based drench was observed (P<0.05) over water and liquid based drench solution. Except the feed consumption in experiment 1 (ad libitum), none of the examined production traits (body weight of does, milk consumption, litter weight, average body weight, weight gain or the mortality of kits) were affected by the provided solutions. Tendencies suggest repetitions of the experiment with different concentrations and different room temperature.

Keywords

• liquid consumption
• milk consumption
• rabbit growth performance
• reproduction