Vol. 1, Issue 1, Part A (2016)

Author(s): Adib Haque, Mustafizur Rahman and Jogiraj Bora

Abstract: The study was carried out on New Zealand White (NZW) and Soviet Chinchilla (SC) rabbits. Thirty male kits from each breed were identified and randomly assigned to three groups G1, G2 and G3 which were weaned at 4, 5 and 6 weeks of age respectively. Each group was divided into 2 units comprising of 5 kits. The animals were kept in individual galvanized wire mesh cages measuring 0.60m x 0.60m x 0.30m. The samples were mixed thoroughly and stored at chiller for a short period before analysis. The proximate composition viz., moisture, fat, protein and ash were estimated as per A.O.A.C. (1990) and the data were statistically analyzed using ‘ANOVA’ of MS excel programme. Breed and feeding regime also had no influence on moisture per cent of rabbit meat. Palanska et al. (1981) studied moisture percentages in rabbits of 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 weeks age and mentioned that the total moisture content decreased significantly with increasing age, from 76.3 to 73.77 per cent. In respect to ash content, rabbit of Soviet Chinchilla (SC) breed weaned at 5th and 6th week had higher ash content than those weaned at 4th week. The proximate composition viz., moisture, fat, protein and ash were estimated as per A.O.A.C. (1990) and the data were statistically analyzed using ‘ANOVA’ of MS excel programme.