Effects Of Natural Plant Feed Additive On Intestine Health And Growth Performance Of Rabbit

Natural plant feed additive?NPFA?is rich in biological elements such as polysaccharide,organic acid,flavonoid,alkaloid,and is beneficial to health and growth.NPFA has been giving increasing attention on antibiotics replacements.The present study is conducted to evaluate the effects of NPFA on growth performance,blood metabolites,intestine health,and meat quality for its application in the practice of rabbit breeding.The paper is consisted of 2 trials.In the 1^stt trial,80 rabbits were randomly allocated to 4 blocks of 4 replicates with5 individual rabbits.Animals in control were fed basal diet.Rabbits in treatment 1,treatment 2,and treatment 3 were added 0.4%,0.8%,and 1.2%NPFA based on control.Composition of NPFA is Astragalus membranaceus,Crataegus pinnatifida Bunge,Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi,Codonopsis pilosula,Nepeta tenuifolia Benth,Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch,Pulsatilla chinensis,Poria cocos.The trial last 47 days with 7-day prefeeding period and 40-day experimental duration.There was no difference for DMI,ADG,and F/G among 4 blocks?P>0.05?.Treatment 2 had the highest levels of DMI and ADG and the lowest F/G.Treatment 3resulted in higher CP and NDF digestibility over 3 other groups?P<0.05?.Diarrhea rate in treatment 2 was lower relative to control and treatment 1?P<0.05?.Plasma levels of Glu,CHO,TG,and GPT were unaffected for 4 groups?P>0.05?.The 3treatments had higher plasma GSH-Px level compared to control?P<0.05?.Treatment1 and treatment 2 raised lower plasma MDA level than control?P<0.05?.Plasma IL-2in 3 treatments were higher than control?P<0.05?.Treatment 3 had higher plasma IL-4 over 3 other groups?P<0.05?.Treatment 2 and treatment 3 resulted in higher TNF-?than control and Treatment 1?P<0.05?.Treatment 2 and treatment 3 resulted in lower pH_24h4h than control and Treatment 1?P<0.05?.Treatment 1 had higher shearing force than treatment 2?P<0.05?.Treatment 2 and treatment 3 raised lower cooking loss rate than control and treatment 1?P<0.05?.The experimental design for trial 2 was the same as trial 1.Cacem pH for control was lower than 3 treatments?P<0.05?.The villus height,crypt depth,and ratio of villus height to crypt depth were unaffected for duodenum and jejunum among 4groups?P>0.05?.Treatment 3 had higher villus height in ileum than control?P<0.05?.Treatment 2 and treatment 3 resulted in higher crypt depth than control?P<0.05?.There was no difference for cacem microflora biodiversity and abundance in 4 groups of rabbits.It is suggested that NPFA could increase DMI and feed digestibility,reduce Diarrhea rate,enhance plasma anti-oxidative stress capability and immunity,improve meat quality,decrease cacem pH for intestine health;and had no negative effect on caecum microflora biodiversity and abundance.Treatment 2?0.8%?is recommended in the practice for rabbit feeding.