Objective Effects of partial replacing the refined forage with peanut straws in feed on growth, slaughter performance, and meat quality of rabbits were analyzed.

Method Sixty healthy 70-day-old New Zealand meat rabbits with similar body weights were randomly divided into 5 groups with 3 replicates of two male and two female rabbits per replicate for each group. Rabbits in the control group were fed a basal diet, while those in the treatment groups given a forage that replaced 10% of the refined ingredients with straws of peanut plants of one of 4 different varieties. The varieties of peanut plants selected for the experimentation were dual-purpose Arachis hypogaea L. ‘Shan G’ for Treatment 1, ‘TJ’ for Treatment 2, and ‘Quanhua 7’ for Treatment 3 as well as Chamaecrista rotundifolia ‘Minyu 1’ for Treatment 4. The rabbits were fed for 10d in a pre-trial period prior to the experiment that lasted 45 d when the rabbit growth was monitored and, at the end, the slaughter performance and meat quality determined.

Result Compared with control, the treatment rabbits were slightly lower, but not significantly, on the final weight, average daily gain, and average daily feed intake (P＞0.05). In the end, the meat-to-bone ratios of the slaughtered rabbits in Treatments 1, 2, and 4 increased by 18.67%, 14.18% and 6.71%, respectively, and the carcass drip losses in Treatments 2 and 4 significantly decreased (P＜0.05). The meat protein content of Treatments 2, 3, and 4 rose, with that of Treatment 4 being significantly higher than control (P＜0.05). In the meats of all treatment rabbits, crude fiber significantly declined (P＜0.05), while crude fat reduced in varying degrees. Calcium increased significantly by 58.6% in Treatment 2 (P＜0.05), phosphorus elevated in all treatments, and total amino acids reached 69.28%, 72.73%, 71.79%, and 74.84% in Treatments 1, 2, 3, and 4, respectively, in comparison to control at 68.81%. The greatest amino acid increase was found in the rabbits of Treatment 4 and followed by Treatment 2 (P＜0.05).

Conclusion Replacing refined forage with peanut straws at 10% in feeding rabbits could significantly improve the animal growth, slaughter performance, and meat quality. Overall, TJ was the chosen peanut variety to collect straws for the application.