Physiological Studies on Poultry

The present study was conducted at the poultry farm, Agriculture researches and Experiments station, Faculty of Agriculture, Mansoura University from November 2008 to January 2009. The main objectives of the study was to evaluate the effect of beta-adrenergic agonist drug (salbutamol) and folic acid or their combinations on growth performance, carcass characteristics, some blood parameters and the histological structure of muscle and liver in rabbits. A total number of 108 unsexed 6 week old Newzealand white rabbits were randomly allotted to 12 treatment groups, nine rabbits each. The average initial body weight of rabbits was nearly similar in all groups (950 ± 30g). Each group was further subdivided into three replicates (3 rabbits each). All rabbits were housed in one tier battery cages equipped with suitable feeder and nipples for drinking. In general, there were 36 cages in total, each one accommodating three rabbits. They were fed ad libitum a standard growing diet formulated to cover or exceed the recommended requirements of growing rabbits. Three experiments were carried out at the same time where rabbits were subjected to several treatments.