Growth of Three- to Four-Week-Old Rabbits Fed Purified and Stock Rations

Abstract

It has been shown that rabbits weaned at three to 4 weeks of age can be used in nutrition studies. A purified diet previously used for older rabbits did not support good growth in these young animals. Kale produced considerable growth stimulation when added to this diet. A number of other vegetables also produced growth stimulation but to a lesser extent than kale. The addition of potassium also increased growth with this diet but not to the same extent as kale. A purified diet developed for guinea pigs, which differed in a number of respects from the rabbit diet, supported growth equal to that obtained with the kale-supplemented rabbit diet but less than that attained with stock pellets. Preliminary experiments indicate that at least 25% protein is required by the rabbit with casein as the protein source, but equally good growth was attained with diets containing 20% protein partly or completely from vegetables.