The Importance of Fibres to Manage Rabbits' Digestive Issues

More than half of the sanitary issues encountered on rabbit farms are related to digestion. With this in mind, farmers should be able to access and use all the existing technical tools and data available to improve the overall sanitary condition of their rabbit farm. The feed strategy is of the utmost importance in this regard, especially the fibre constituents of rabbit feeds. How can a better understanding of the role of fibres allow one to deal with rabbits' digestive issues?

In average, fibres account for over 35% of a rabbit’s diet. They include lignin, crude fiber, hemicellulose and pectin. Their presence in plant cell walls varies depending on the raw materials used. Fibres do not all have the same nutritional characteristics when applied to rabbits, especially with regards to their digestible properties.
There are two main types of fibres, as follows:

• indigestible fibres (which include crude fiber and lignin);
• digestible fibres (which include hemicellulose and pectin).

Benefits of fibres on the young rabbit

For young rabbits, fibres have a strong impact on the intestinal transit. In the digestive tract, bacteria use fibres as a substrate, especially at the cecum level (the cecum is the largest reservoir of the digestive tract; it is situated at the junction of the small intestine and colon). Fibres are the key to successful weaning. At weaning, the young rabbit has its diet switched from a single meal consisting of milk, to several solid meals a day. At this point it needs a sufficient amount of fibres for the development of fibrolytic bacteria, i.e bacteria that degrade fibres. By doing so, fibrolytic bacteria end up forming a balanced bacterial population.

Striking a balance between digestible fibres and indigestible fibres

Vegetable fibres play a crucial role for preventing digestive disorders in rabbits. Not only do they affect the way the feed transits through the digestive systems but, through their nature and amount, they also have a major impact on the animal's health condition.

How can we obtain a diversified and balanced mix of fibres?

Fibres are a way to secure rabbits' digestive health. Yet it is not easy to satisfy all the requirements rabbits have for fibres. By comparing two feeds containing an equal amount of fibres, studies have shown that the inclusion of various  sources of fibres has more benefits than using a single fibrous source of raw material for reducing mortality.

Rabbits' requirements do not always match the infrastructures of feed mills

Rabbits' high requirements for fibres, especially indigestible ones, require using specific raw materials: grape pulp, grape seed meal, beet pulp, alfalfa, etc. This means that feed mills must have entire storage silos dedicated to raw materials that  may not be useful to other species. The resulting feeds may end up containing an inadequate level of fibres or fibres that are not sufficiently diversified. Such limits can hinder the efficiency of these feeds. However some specific solutions, such as mixes of fibres, are designed to conciliate rabbits’ specific needs and feed millers’ constraints.

Performance, safety, quality and technicality are the major production parameters of rabbit feed manufacturing. The TECHNA Group provides feed millers with support and customised products to help them to produce feeds that combine strong animal performance and sanitary security. For more information, please contact our experts!