Phosphorus and calcium are essential for controlling skeletal growth and metabolic processes in rabbits. Due to the potential zoonotic implications of Bone Meal (BM), its use as a calcium-phosphorus source in rabbit diets has decreased. An alternative to BM could be Rock Phosphate (RP), a naturally occurring mineral rich in calcium and phosphorus, however RP contains fluoride which is a potent toxicant at high levels of exposure. This study was therefore designed to leverage the volatility of fluoride at relatively high temperatures a safe alternative to BM for rabbits. Eleven-week-old does (n=25, average weight= 1744 ± 29.64 g) were randomly allotted to five diets with heat treated rock phosphate (HTRP) replacement for BM at 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% for 31 weeks (r=5) in a CRD. Average Daily Feed IntakeADFI (g), Litter Size at Birth-LSB (g), Litter Weight at 3 Weeks-LW3W (g) and Total Milk Yield-TMY (g) were recorded. Data were subjected to descriptive statistics and analysis of variance, using SAS 9.4 (2023). Means were separated using Tukey’s HSD at ?0.05.
The ADFI of 145.23±12.75 in rabbit does fed 100% HTRP was comparable with the control diet (151.74±12.87), but differed from 50% HTRP (104.46±61.43 g). The LSB of 4.60±1.14 g observed in rabbits fed 100%BM diet was significantly higher than 3.00±1.00 g (in 25%HTRP and 50%HTRP). The LW3W of 321.71±28.24 observed for 100% HTRP was comparable to control (336.13±28.50), while TMY of 1016.60±89.25 at 100% HTRP was similar to control group (1062.17±90.03) and better than other treatments. It was therefore concluded that replacement of bone meal with heat treated rock phosphate up to 100% did not affect growth, postparturition performances and reproductive efficiency of rabbits.