Growth performance, carcass traits, meat composition, digestibility coefficients and caecal microbiota of growing rabbits fed diets supplemented with a herbal mixture

The study investigates the effect of dietary herbal mixture (HM) levels on growing New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits' performance, carcass characteristics, blood biochemicals, and microbiological characteristics from 5 to 13 weeks of age. In this study, 96 New Zealand White rabbits (male and female ratio 1:1) were used, and they were five weeks old. The rabbits were at random allocated into four experimental groups (n = 24 each) comprising 12 replicates, each with two rabbits. The 1st group acted as the control and received feed without additional supplements. The 2nd group received 0.30% HM, the 3rd group received 0.50% HM, and the 4th group received 0.70% HM. As the concentration of the herbal mixture extract was raised, the inhibitory zones grew significantly. The addition of HM to rabbit diets at a 0.5% concentration significantly increased body weight and weight gain compared to the control diet and other treatments. The apparent digestibility coefficient of ether extracts and the rabbits' capacity to absorb lipids significantly increased with increasing HM levels up to 0.7%. In addition, the HM increased high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and decreased triglycerides and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) in the blood. Interestingly, when rabbits were fed varying amounts of HM, all types of bacteria significantly declined, yet helpful lactic acid bacteria increased. In conclusion, HM supplementation improved rabbit growth, blood parameters, and gut microbial balance, with a 0.5% level yielding the best results, indicating that HM has significant potential as a novel feed supplement for growing rabbits.