Nutrient Requirements of Rabbits

Abstract

Although rabbits are used in almost every aspect of medical and biological research, the nutrient requirements of rabbits have not been fully established up to the present. This lack of knowledge may be explained partly by the easy preparation of natural feed.
The review of coprophagy of rabbits was described, since coprophagy is usually practiced by domestic rabbits and its importance in supplying the nutrient requirements of rabbits is generally recognised. Thereafter, purified diets for rabbits were shown, because it is most important that laboratory animal feed should be of uniform quality.
This report principally presented information on feed digestibility and requirements of energy (the total digestible nutrient), protein, fat, fiber, minerals and vitamins.