Desmodium tortuosum, Euphorbia heterophylla and Moringa oleifera Effect on Local Rabbit Does Milk Production and Pups’ Performances

Desmodium tortuosum and Euphorbia heterophylla are fields' weeds. Moringa oleifera plant is adapted to several agroecological zones and has many food and medicinal virtues. This work assessed these three plants potential to induce milk production. Thus, 96 primiparous local breed rabbit does, 10 months old, with an average 2983.6±212.4 g weight were used. They were grouped into 4 blocks containing 24 animals each. Then, one diet among 4 diets was randomly assigned to each group. Panicum maximum as fodder was mixed with a commercial pellet rabbit feed, the control (Pan). Then, this control diet was supplemented with Desmodium tortuosum (Des), Euphorbia heterophylla (Eup) and Moringa oleifera (Mor) in pellet partial substitution. The parameters monitored were the litter size, the pups' average daily weight gain, the does' weights before and during gestation, and after farrowing. Likewise, the milk production at peak lactation was evaluated. As a result, compare to Pan, Des, and Eup diets improved the total rabbit pups' number from 96 to 112, and it represented a 16.67% gain. But Mor diet reduced Pan diet performance to 76 newborn rabbits, it was a 20.83% loss. Moreover, Des, Eup, and Mor diets induced an improvement in the milk quantity at peak lactation. In this order, these improvements were +15.51, +27.74, and +19.98%, respectively, compared to Pan diet which produced 109.6 g. In conclusion, Desmodium tortuosum and Euphorbia heterophylla could be used as green forages to improve milk production in local rabbit does breeding.