Effects of diets with increasing levels of Spirulina platensis on the performance and apparent digestibility in growing rabbits

The efficiency of diets with the inclusion of Spirulina platensis (SP) for rabbit growing has been tested. The trial was carried out on 40 crossbred rabbits that were randomly allocated to four groups each with ten animals (five male and five female rabbits each), kept in individual cages. Three isoproteic and isoenergetic diets were formulated with an increasing level of SP (5%, 10% and 15%); the diets were tested against a control diet without microalgae. The experimental period lasted 24 days and the faeces were collected during the last week. No obvious health problems were encountered during the experiment and no rabbits died during the feeding trial. The measured parameters were growth performance and digestibility of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), crude fibre (CF), ether extract (EE), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and gross energy (GE). The results show that the final weight, weight gain and feed efficiency did not differ significantly (P > 0.05) among the dietary treatments, but an SP inclusion level of 10% gave the highest feed intake. The DM, OM, CP, GE, NDF and ADF digestibilities of the control diet were higher than those of the SP-containing diets.