The Effect of Dietary Crude Fibre Content on Eimeria Oocyst Excretion and the Production of Fattening Rabbits

The aim was to investigate the effect of dietary crude fibre (CF) content on Eimeria excretion and production in fattening rabbits. Weaned rabbits were divided into two groups: The control group (C) was fed a commercial pelleted diet (CF = 17%); the high-fibre group (HF) was fed a diet with a higher fibre content (CF = 24%). In Experiment 1, the production of 90 rabbits per group was compared and mortality data and faecal samples from 800 rabbits per group were analysed. In Experiment 2, the production of 90 growing rabbits and the faecal samples and mortality of 1050 animals per group were studied. Although feed consumption did not differ between groups, the HF group had lower weight gain than the C group (P < 0.001). The body weight of the HF group was lower at the end of fattening (P < 0.001). The HF group had a very unfavourable feed conversion ratio (4.07). Mortality was not different between the groups. In both groups, Eimeria oocysts were detected in faecal samples from 44-45 days of age until the end of fattening. A higher proportion of moderately pathogenic Eimeria species was detected in the C group compared to the HF group, and highly pathogenic oocysts were observed only in the C group.