Effect of palm oil and soya bean oil on growth performance and health of rabbit before and after weaning

This study was to verify the impact of the nature of the fat introduced into the feed pellets on growth performance and health of rabbits before and after weaning. Three hundred and sixty rabbits of mean weight 5091 g and from 40 litters were divided into two groups of 60 rabbits. The experiment was repeated three times. The two groups were fed with two feeds that differ in the nature of the fat introduced into the feed. In the first group, the feed contains 3% of palm oil and the second batch, 3% of soya bean oil. Both oils were characterised and the average weight, the growth rate and the health risk of young rabbits were evaluated before and after weaning. The results show a better performance of rabbits fed soya bean oil compared with those fed palm oil. Before weaning, the rabbits of the group containing soya bean oil showed an average growth of 136.75 g/week and a health risk of 20% against 135.75 g/week and 23% for the batch containing palm oil. After weaning, the average growth and the health risks are respectively 181.25 g/week and 7.5% for the group containing soybean oil against 223.75 g/week and 17.5% for the lot containing palm oil.