Vol. 8, Issue 7 (2019)

Author(s):
Amalu Sabu, PT Suraj, KS Anil, Biya Ann Joseph and VN Vasudevan

Abstract:
A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of housing on growth rate, carcass traits and meat quality of rabbits. Twenty four New Zealand White rabbits of both sexes (1:1) were weaned and selected at five weeks of age. The animals were randomly divided into two groups (T1 and T2) of 12 rabbits each with equal number from both sexes with an average uniform body weight. Rabbits in group T1 were housed in cages with steel floors and T2 with plastic slatted floors. The experiment was conducted during the post monsoon season for a period of nine weeks. The animals were slaughtered and meat qualities were observed for pH, Water Holding Capacity (WHC) (per cent), colour (l*a*b*), Warner - Bratzler Shear Force (WBSF) (N), collagen solubility (per cent of collagen), proximate composition (per cent of fresh weight) and sensory evaluation (8 point hedonic scale). There was significant difference (p<0.01) between T1 and T2 in WHC (18.717 ± 1.355, 29.218 ± 1.374, WBSF (35.714 ± 1.694, 19.612 ± 1.629), collagen solubility (30.91 ± 1.928, 38.26 ± 1.557) and fat content (p<0.05) (5.088 ± 0.783, 2.823 ± 0.314). There was no significant difference between T1 and T2 in pH (5.931 ± 0.013, 5.882 ± 0.022), colour (52.582 ± 1.252, 52.500 ± 0.797), protein (21.999 ± 0.583, 22.678 ± 0.219) and moisture content (71.545 ± 0.517, 72.136 ± 0.217). The sensory evaluation of cooked rabbit meat from T2 showed significantly higher score for appearance, tenderness, juiciness, flavor and overall acceptability than T1. The results indicated that rabbits reared on plastic slatted floors had better meat qualities and can be recommended to farmers for rearing rabbits.