Partially replacing dietary starch with soybean oil improved production performance of weaned Rex rabbits

The differences between the high-starch diet commonly used in rabbit farming and the natural feeding habits of rabbits may pose certain health risks. In our study, we replaced part of the starch in the feed with soybean oil and conducted a 4-wk feeding trial with weaned Rex rabbits. The results indicated that rabbits fed the oil-supplemented diet had a lower incidence of diarrhea, improved growth performance, and higher feed conversion efficiency, along with increased absorptive capacity of small intestine. Additionally, the composition of the cecal contents and fermentation patterns were altered; the concentration of ammonia in the cecum and the proportion of acetate among volatile fatty acids decreased, while the proportion of butyrate increased. Furthermore, the concentration of ammonia nitrogen in the cecum decreased, along with reductions in hepatic urea synthesis activity and urinary nitrogen excretion. These findings suggest that replacing part of the dietary starch with oil can enhance the production efficiency of Rex rabbits.