Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

White, Shecoya

Committee Member

Abdallah-Ruiz, Angelica

Committee Member

Rude, Brian

Committee Member

Burnett, Derris

Committee Member

Rios de Alvarez, Leyla; Zhang, Xue

Date of Degree

8-7-2025

Original embargo terms

Visible MSU Only 2 Years

Document Type

Dissertation - Campus Access Only

Major

Agricultural Science

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

College

College of Agriculture and Life Sciences

Department

Department of Animal and Dairy Sciences

Abstract

Rabbits are gaining recognition as a type of highly specialized, unique micro-livestock because of their vast potential to supply animal protein for humans, characteristic small body-size, rapid growth, ability to live on forage, low capital outlay, and their role as an efficient feed converter. Three studies were conducted to assess the enhancement of rabbit production via vegetable and hay supplementation on growth performance and carcass traits of does and weaners and efficacy of natural additives on the shelf-life of refrigerated rabbit meat patties. In the first study, 30 mixed breed female rabbits were exposed to the following diets: 100% commercial pellets, 70% commercial pellets with 30% vegetables, and 30% commercial pellets with 70% vegetables. Diet 2 was the preferred diet due to the positive impact on reproductive performance, including higher kindling rates and better birth weight, but did not result in greater gestational weight gain than in the control group. In the second study, 18 weaners were fed commercial pellets supplemented with Bermuda grass hay vs alfalfa hay. Overall, the alfalfa had similar growth performance, carcass and non-carcasses to the Bermuda grass diet. In the third study, rabbit patties were treated with 1.5% Chitosan, 0.5% Carvacrol, and a combination of 1.5% Chitosan and 0.5% Carvacrol. The combination treatment resulted in a significant difference for the tested parameters: proximate analysis, physiochemical assessments such as water holding capacity, cook loss, color, and pH. For microbial analysis, the application of these natural additives alone and in combination were found to be effective in preventing spoilage microorganisms, including mesophilic bacteria, psychrotropic bacteria, lactic acid bacteria, and coliforms. Chitosan alone became a food source for microorganisms as storage increased, as exponential growth was observed. The microbial shelf of rabbit patties took 6 days for control and chitosan but was more than 6 days but less than 9 days for the carvacrol alone and combination treatments. Overall, the application of chitosan and carvacrol can be used as an alternative to synthetic antimicrobials to extend shelf life. Data provided from this project can aid farmers and rabbit producers in feed management practices and post-processing meat quality.

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