| Popis: |
In a first trial, 21 five-week old rabbits housed in individual cages were divided into 3 experimental lots. All of them received the same lysine-deficient pelleted diet but lot 1 drank pure water only, lot 2 had a free choice between a solution of l-lysine (1.6 g/l) or pure water, and lot 3 drank l-lysine only. The trial lasted 24 days. The growth of lot 1 rabbits was significantly lower than that of lot 3 rabbits. The performance of lot 2 animals was intermediate but quite similar to that of lot 3. The lot 2 animals drank significantly more of the lysine solution than pure water (56 vs 44 p. 100). In a second trial, 60 five-week old rabbits housed 5 to a cage were divided into 4 lots. Lot 1 received a sulphur amino acid (AAS)-deficient diet + pure water, lot 2 a balanced diet + pure water, lot 3 the deficient diet + pure water and a solution of dl-methionine (1 g/l), and lot 4 the deficient diet + pure water + another dl-methionine solution (3 g/l). The trial lasted 19 days. Lot 2 showed improved growth due to the intake of the better AAS balanced diet. Lot 3 and 4 rabbits had intermediate growth which approached that of lot 2 animals as the methionine concentration in the solution increased. In both cases, the rabbits preferred the methionine solution to the pure water: 77 p. 100 in lot 3 (1 g/l) and 60 p. 100 in lot 4 (3 g/l). In conclusion, when the diet was deficient in AAS or in lysine and there was a free choice between either pure water or a solution of the deficient amino acid, the rabbits preferred the solution. |
