Sustitución parcial del concentrado por alimento artesanal en la dieta sobre el desempeño productivo y económico de conejos.

Abstract

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of partial replacement of artisan diets with commercial diets during the fattening phase on rabbit production and economic performance. Sixteen 30-day-old New Zealand rabbits with an average body weight of 550 g were assigned in a completely randomized fashion to four treatment groups with four replicates each. Treatments were: control (commercial concentrate) and three levels of commercial food replacing artisan food: T25%, T50% and T75%. The obtained results were subjected to analysis of variance using initial weight as a covariate. Linear and quadratic effects were assessed using orthogonal contrasts. Statistical differences were considered at P ≤ 0.05. Final body weight (PCF), gain (GP), consumption (Con), feed conversion (CA) and feed efficiency (EA) were different (P < 0.05) between the control group and the treatment group receiving manual concentrate. PCF, GP, CA and EA had a positive linear order effect (P < 0.05) with increasing levels of artisanal food inclusion. Similarly, the secondary effects of PCF, GP, Con, CA, and EA (P < 0.05) had higher substitution rates. T50% reduces production costs per kg of meat and increases net income per live rabbit and carcass. Our research shows that replacing artisan feed with commercial feed by 50% improves rabbit production and economic performance during the rearing phase.