TY  - JOUR
AU  - Romero, C.
AU  - Nicodemus, N.
AU  - García-Rebollar, P.
AU  - García-Ruiz, A.I.
AU  - Ibáñez, M.A.
AU  - De Blas, J.C.
T1  - Dietary level of fibre and age at weaning affect the proliferation of Clostridium perfringens in the caecum, the incidence of Epizootic Rabbit Enteropathy and the performance of fattening rabbits
LA  - eng
PY  - 2009
SP  - 131
EP  - 140
T2  - Animal Feed Science and Technology
SN  - 0377-8401
VL  - 153
IS  - 1-2
AB  - An experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary fibre content and weaning age on Clostridium perfringens proliferation in the caecum and fattening mortality in growing rabbits farmed in a facility having Epizootic Rabbit Enteropathy. The experiment consisted in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement with two weaning ages (28 days vs. 42 days) and two levels of dietary neutral detergent fibre assayed with a heat stable amylase and expressed exclusive of residual ash (aNDFom; 330 g/kg vs. 425 g/kg). Controls were made during two consecutive experimental periods that differed in hygienic environmental conditions by modifying the intensity of cleaning and disinfection in the farm previous to the trial. An interaction (P<0.001) was detected among the independent variables studied on Cl. perfringens enumeration in the caecal contents, as minimal values for this trait were obtained in non-medicated animals reared in a clean environment, and especially when they were weaned at a later age and fed the diet with the lower fibre content. The treatments studied also led to a variation in fattening mortality (from 4.7% to 34.0%), which was highly and positively correlated (P<0.001) to the average Cl. perfringens caecal counts in each combination of treatments. The results of the current study indicate that high counts of Cl. perfringens in the caecum can be used as an indicator of Epizootic Rabbit Enteropathy, and suggest that strategies designed to control its proliferation in the caecum might help to limit fattening mortality in rabbit fed diets not-medicated with antibiotics. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
DO  - 10.1016/j.anifeedsci.2009.05.005
UR  - https://portalciencia.ull.es/documentos/5ea4b5862999526c8efa0bf7
DP  - Dialnet - Portal de la Investigación
ER  -