Performance of growing rabbits fed increasing levels of discarded Salvia hispanica L. (chia) seed.

This experiment was carried out to evaluate the effect of including five levels of discarded chia seed (DCS) on growth, energy, and economic efficiency in rabbits. Fifty crossbred (New Zealand × Californian) weaning rabbits, weighing 798 ± 170 g, were randomly assigned to the following treatments: 0 % (control), 10 % (Ch10), 20 % (Ch20), 30 % (Ch30), and 40 % (Ch40) of DCS. Ten unsexed rabbits were allocated to each treatment and housed individually in cages; the experimental period was 6 weeks. There were no statistically significant differences between treatments in final body weight (2050 g), body weight gain (30 g/rabbit/day), and carcass weight (1010 g); however, feed intake (91 g/rabbit/day in Ch20 vs. 80 g/rabbit/day in Ch40), feed conversion ratio (2.77 in control and Ch40 vs. 2.95 in Ch10, Ch20, and Ch30), energy conversion ratio (32 MJ/kg in Ch20 vs. 29 MJ/kg on average in control, Ch10, Ch20, Ch30, and Ch40), and economic efficiency (358 % in control vs. 433 % in Ch40) showed differences (P < 0.05) between treatments. Discarded chia seed can be included up to 40 % in growing rabbit diets without any adverse effects on growth and carcass weight, and increased economic efficiency.