The effect of simplified diets based on forages on the apparent digestibility in white New Zealand rabbits was evaluated. The treatments were based on the following diets: reference (REF), hay of alfalfa (FAL), hay of rami leaves (FRA), hay of mulberry leaves (FAM) and hay of upper to 1/3 aereal part of cassava (FMA). The type of food affected the digestibility of the diets. The FMA diet showed low coefficients of digestibility in comparison to the other diets for all the analyzed nutrients. For the FAM diet the coefficients of apparent digestibility of the nutrients had higher values (P<0.05) than the coefficients of the other studied diets. The animals that ingested FAM diet showed digestive disorders and low consumption, with negative effect on the results. The coefficients of apparent digestibility of the remaining diets were similar (P>0.05). The estimated values of digestible energy (kcal DE/kg DM) and digestible protein (%DP/DM) were, respectively, 2285.27 and 16.04 for alfalfa hay, 1857.88 and 16.37 for hay of rami leaves, 2838.48 and 15.12 for hay of mulberry leaves and 2155.55 and 10.57 for hay of upper to 1/3 aereal part of cassava.
rabbit; digestibility; forage
