Effects of spirulina (Spirulina platensis) supplementation in feed on reproductive performance in rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) does

Abstract The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of dietary supplementation with spirulina powder on the reproductive characteristics in female rabbits. Twenty-one nulliparous and sexually mature rabbits (8 months old) were divided into 3 groups of 7 animals each, comparable in terms of body weight. After one week of feeding with the experimental diet, rabbits in each group were mated. During the experiment, does in group 1 (control group) received ad libitum a diet without spirulina (control diet), while does of groups 2 and 3 received diets supplemented with spirulina powder at 0.6% and 1.2% respectively. compared to control group, the live weights of animals treated with spirulina increased, while there was no significant difference (P > 0.05). The male acceptance and kids viability rates were insignificantly (P > 0.05) higher and the delay of male acceptance was lower in females fed diet containing spirulina as compared to control females. The rate of fertility, the sex ratio males/females of the young and duration of gestation were comparable in all the groups (P > 0.05). The number of young rabbits post-partum was insignificantly (P > 0.05) greater in does receiving spirulina-supplemented feed than control animals. Therefore, the results from this work show that supplementation of diet with spirulina powder could ameliorate reproductive performances in female rabbits, especially at 1.2%, as better performances were recorded at this percentage.