Goji berries supplementation improves productive performance of rabbit.

The aim of our study was to evaluate the effects of Goji berries on the productive performance of rabbits. One month before insemination, the New Zealand White does (20 animals/group) were fed a commercial standard diet (group C), supplemented with 1% or 3% Goji (groups 1G and 3G, respectively). After weaning, 50 rabbits/group were randomly selected and fed with the same diet of mothers (C, 1G or 3G) up to 91 days of age. 1G group showed lower pre-weaning mortality (31%, 15%, and 29% for C, 1G and 3G, respectively; P < 0.05), higher litter size (5 ± 1, 7 ± 1, and 6 ± 1 rabbits for C, 1G and 3G, respectively; P < 0.05) and litter weight (1278 ± 72, 1541 ± 61, 1319 ± 61 g for C, 1G and 3G, respectively; P < 0.05) at day 18, and higher litter size at weaning (4 ± 1, 6 ± 1, 4 ± 1 rabbits for C, 1G and 3G, respectively; P = 0.05) than C group. The supplemented groups showed higher body weight at the slaughter (2072 ± 32 g, 2212 ± 28 g and 2313 ± 32 g for C, 1G and 3G, respectively; P < 0.01) than C. Our results show that a supplementation of feed with Goji berries results in an improvement of productive performance in rabbit.