Estimation quantitative de la caecotrophie chez le lapin en croissance : variations en fonction de l'âge

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Abstract
A study was made to measure caecotrophy in the growing rabbit and to estimate caecotrophy relative to easily measurable performance parameters. Crossbred New Zealand White .times. Californian doe rabbits fed ad libitum a complete pelleted diet were kept in digestibility cages from 25 to 133 days of age. Soft faeces excretion was measured for 24 h every week up to 63 days of age, then every two weeks. At each stage, 7 to 10 animals whose intake and excretion had not been disturbed by the collar preventing caecotrophy were chosen among the 10 to 15 fitted with this collar. Dry matter content and dry amount of soft faeces stabilized after 11 weeks of age between 36 and 40%, respectively and around 20 g DM/day (fig. 1). Total faecal excretion of dry matter (soft + hard faeces) expressed as percent of intake did not change significantly with age (48-55%). Total crude protein content of soft faeces, twice as large as that of hard faeces changed from 23 to 27% DM between 63 and 133 days of age and total crude protein supply by soft faeces reach 26% of dietary protein supply between 8 and 9 weeks of age. Crude fibre content of soft faeces was 50% lower than that of hard faeces (20-24%) without marked variations according to age. The results show that reutilization of dry matter and crude protein was maximum during the period with the highest growth rate (figure 1C). From 28 to 63 days of age soft faeces excretion was correlated with a linear combination between intake and soft faeces excretion (R = 0.827; P < 0.01). Consequently, before slaughter age (11 weeks) and with our experimental diet, it seems possible to estimate quantitatively soft faeces excretion from performance parameters without using a collar.