This study aimed to evaluate the effects of the feeding system (AL: ad libitum, R: feed restriction) and group composition (X: only females, Y: only males, XY: mixed sex) on the feed intake pattern, growth, and slaughter results in growing rabbits. A total of 288 crossbred rabbits were housed in 18 pens (16 animals per pen) from weaning to slaughter (33 to 75 d of age). At the beginning of the trial, R rabbits had access to the feeders for 10 h/d, afterwards, feeding time increased by 1 h every 3-4 d in the first three weeks until 16 h/d was reached, and by 1 h per day until 24-h access to feeders was reached in the 4^th week; thereafter, all animals were fed ad libitum. On average, the feed intake pattern of AL rabbits was characterized by small and frequent meals throughout the day, with minimum intakes (about 2-3 g/h) occurring in the morning and maximum intakes (7-10 g/h) in the evening. During the restriction period, R rabbits showed a lower daily feed intake (-6 g/d; P < 0.01), better feed conversion (2.29 vs. 2.42; P < 0.001), and a higher hourly feed intake compared to the AL rabbits, reaching peaks of 18, 15, and 14 g/h when the feeding time was 11, 13, and 16 h/d, respectively (P < 0.001). In the second period, once the rabbits were fed freely, R rabbits achieved the same intake as AL rabbits but with a higher feed conversion (4.10 vs. 3.89; P < 0.001). In this study, the feeding system did not affect growth performance, health (mortality 1.4% on average), carcass traits, and meat quality. In terms of group composition, the daily growth and feed conversion were worse in the Y groups than in the X and XY groups in the second period (P ≤ 0.01), with no other differences observed throughout the whole trial. Dressing out percentage was significantly different among the three groups (61.8%, 61.0% and 60.2% in group Y, group XY and group X, respectively; P < 0.001). In conclusion, time-based feed restriction during the first three weeks (based on an access to the feeders increasing from 10 h/d at the beginning until 16 h/d) reduced the feed intake to 95% of ad libitum, without compromising growth performance and slaughter results, but modified the rabbit feed intake pattern during the restriction phase. In terms of gender composition, the separate housing of male and female rabbits was not justified by our results.

本研究旨在评估饲喂系统（AL：随意采食，R：限制采食）和组组成（X：仅雌性，Y：仅雄性，XY：混合性别）对采食方式，生长和生长的影响。宰杀导致兔子成长。从断奶到屠宰（33至75 d龄），共将288只杂交兔圈养在18只圈内（每只圈内有16只动物）。在试验开始时，R兔可以使用喂食器10 h / d，此后，喂食时间在前三周中每3-4 d增加3-4 h，直到达到16 h / d，然后增加1 h每天直至到供料器24小时的访问在4达到^第周; 此后，随意喂养所有动物。平均而言，AL兔的采食模式以全天少食和频繁进餐为特征，早晨最低采食量（约2-3 g / h），最大采食量（7-10 g / h）。晚间。在禁食期内，与AL兔相比，R兔的每日饲料摄入量较低（-6 g / d；P < 0.01），饲料转化率更高（2.29 vs. 2.42；P < 0.001），并且每小时的饲料摄入量较高当进料时间分别为11、13和16 h / d时，分别达到18、15和14 g / h的峰值（P < 0.001）。在第二阶段，自由喂养兔子后，R兔子的摄入量与AL兔子相同，但饲料转化率更高（4.10比3.89；P <0.001）。在这项研究中，饲喂系统没有影响生长性能，健康（平均死亡率为1.4％），car体性状和肉质。在组组合物而言，每日生长和饲料转化率分别是在Y基团比在在第二时间段（X和XY基团更糟P ≤0.01），在整个试验中观察到没有其他差异。三组之间的着装率显着不同（Y组，XY组和X组分别为61.8％，61.0％和60.2％；P < 0.001）。总之，在前三周内基于时间的饲料限制（基于从开始时的10 h / d到16 h / d的进料器访问量）将饲料采食量降低至随意采食量的95％，而不影响生长性能和屠宰结果，但在限制阶段改变了兔子的采食方式。就性别组成而言，我们的结果并不能证明雄性和雌性兔子分开居住。