Bidistilled glycerine in the diet of growing rabbits

Two experiments were carried out to evaluate the nutritional value of bidistilled glycerin and the productive performance of rabbits fed diets that replaced soybean oil with different levels of glycerin. In the first experiment, 20 New Zealand red rabbits were used for the digestibility assay, with two treatments and ten replicates. Glycerin showed digestibility coefficients of 91.78% for gross dry matter and 93.36% for gross energy. In the second experiment, 80 30-day-old rabbits were distributed into five treatments (control diet and inclusions of 25, 50, 75 and 100% glycerin) in randomized blocks, with eight replicates and two animals per experimental unit. After the experiment, the rabbits were slaughtered to evaluate organ, meat and carcass characteristics. No influence of the inclusion of bidistilled glycerin was observed in any of the evaluated parameters. Glycerin showed high digestibility, with 83.35% digestible dry matter and 3936.92 kcal/kg digestible energy. Thus, double-distilled glycerin can be used as an energy ingredient in diets for growing rabbits.