Effect of conjugated linoleic acid on embryo quality in New Zealand rabbits

Abstract

One of the main challenges in commercial rabbit production is the high nutritional demands in primiparous females, which, together with their limited intake capacity, reduces their body fat stores and could be partly responsible for their low reproductive performance. Supplementation strategies with rich sources of polyunsaturated fatty acids in primiparous rabbits could compensate for their low reproductive performance. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the addition of increasing levels of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) to the diet of rabbits on embryo development and embryo quality in New Zealand rabbits. Thirty New Zealand females aged 28-30 d and weighing an average of 587.5±35 g at the start of the experiment were randomly distributed into three feeding treatments: T0: (n=10) commercial diet, TCLA1 (n=10): commercial feed +2.5% CLA, TCLA2 (n=10): commercial feed +5.0% CLA, and were fed ad libitum with commercial balanced feed containing 18% crude protein and 12% crude fibre during the experimental phase (120 d). The females were exposed to a male for mating and sacrificed at 72 h