title: Effect of double nursing on some anatomical and physiological properties of the digestive tract of rabbits between 23 and 44 days of age.
abstract: Anatomical and physiological properties of the digestive tract were examined and compared in young rabbits nursed either by one (SS) or by two does (DD) daily up to the age of 35 days. At the age of 23, 30, 37 and 44 days, 8 young per treatment were euthanised. Double suckling and the subsequent higher level of solid feed intake after weaning were found to exert a stronger influence on the weight of the entire gastrointestinal tract and that of its individual parts (the stomach, small intestine, caecum and colon) than on its length. The quantity of the gastric content was found to rise with advancing age in both groups (from 36 to 70 g and from 37.5 to 79 g). In both groups the pH of the stomach was higher during the suckling period (4.5-5.3) than subsequent to weaning (1.6-2.4). The quantity of the caecal content also increased with age (from 4 or 8 g), but on the 37th day significantly higher quantities of caecal content were recorded in DD rabbits (50.5 g compared with 35 g). The pH of the caecal content decreased more slowly from an initial high value (6.0 and 6.5 in SS and DD rabbits, respectively), and by the 37th day had settled at a low value (5.7-5.8) in both groups. The dry matter content of the caecal content decreased from 270-273 g to 188-207 g in both groups. Total volatile fatty acid (tVFA) and acetic acid (C2) concentration, which amounted to 66-88% of tVFA, rose; in SS rabbits they were at higher levels by the 30th day (53.6 and 42.2 mmol/L, respectively), and remained at an increased level until the 44th day (P < 0.05). The ratio of C3: C4 was high on the 23rd day (2.5 and 2.4), but dropped at the age of 30 days (0.5 in SS and 1.7 in DD, P < 0.05) and, further, by the 37th day (0.2 in SS). In SS rabbits coliform count proved significantly lower (10(5)) on the 23rd day than in DD rabbits (10(6)). By the 37th day this count had decreased in both groups and subsequently remained at a low level (< 10(4)). By the 23rd day Bacteroides were present in large quantities (10(8)) in the caecum and showed no change with advancing age or feeding regime.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Animal Science, University of Kaposvár, H-7401 Kaposvár, P.O. Box 16, Hungary. melinda@mail.atk.u-kaposvar.hu
authors.forename: Melinda
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zomborszky-Kovács
authors.forename: Tünde
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gyarmati
authors.forename: Zs
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Szendrö
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Maertens
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D000833:Animals, Suckling / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*; D001835:Body Weight; D004064:Digestive System / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000737:chemistry / Q000382:microbiology; D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D005766:Gastrointestinal Contents; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D008297:Male; D008892:Milk; D009929:Organ Size; D011817:Rabbits / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D005232:Fatty Acids, Volatile