EFFECT OF THE LACTULOSE-CONTAINING PREBIOTIC FEED ADDITIVE VETELAKT ON CALIFORNIA BREED RABBITS LIVE WEIGHT DYNAMICS

The aim of the study is to analyze the effect of the lactulose-containing prebiotic feed additive Vetelakt on the live weight dynamics of Californian rabbits. Objectives: to study the growth and development of rabbits aged 45 to 120 days; to calculate the absolute, average daily, and relative live weight gains; to study the survivability of the experimental population of young rabbits. The studies were conducted at the IPBVM zoo farm and the Department of ZiTPPZh. The experimental design consisted of the following options: control group (CG), the first experimental group – CG + 0.1 ml (prebiotic) per 1 kg of live weight, the second experimental group – CG + 0.2 ml (prebiotic) per 1 kg of live weight. At the end of the experiment, the animals in the control group were 205.9 g, or 5.8 % (P ≥ 0.99) lower in live weight than their counterparts in the first group, and 102.4 g, or 2.98 % lower in live weight than their counterparts in the second group. The animals in the first experimental group stood out; their live weight was 3531.4 kg, which was 103.4 g (P ≥ 0.95) higher than that of their peers in the second experimental group. Based on the results of fattening for the period from 45 to 120 days of age, the animals of the first experimental group increased their live weight by 2280 g (P ≥ 0.99), which is higher than their peers in the control (2073.0 g) and the second experimental (2177.6 g, P ≥ 0.95) by 207 and 102.4 g, or 9.07 and 4.49 %, respectively. The survival rate of rabbits in the compared groups during the experimental period was 100 %. The introduction of the feed additive Vetelakt into the rabbits' diet at a dosage of 0.1 and 0.2 ml per 1 kg of live weight had a positive effect on the growth and development of rabbits. Animals in the experimental groups showed increases in absolute live weight gain from 104.6 to 207.0 g, average daily weight gain from 0.77 to 2.16 g, and relative weight gain from 2.44 to 4.77 % compared to peers in the control group.