The effects of dietary supplementation of common mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) meal on growth and excreted Eimeria spp. oocysts incidence in Dwarf Lop rabbit kits

The goal of the study was to evaluate the effect of dietary inclusion of common mugwort (Artemisia vulgaris) herb on selected growth and health traits of young dwarf rabbits. The mugwort species represent regular botanical species with proven favourable effects on health state of many animal species. However, a dietary effect of Artemisia vulgaris (AV) on health of dwarf rabbit genepool has not been studied yet. The study was performed on a total of 12 kits of the Dwarf Lop breed. These kits were divided into 2 groups (control, C; experimental, E). From the age of 21 days up to the age of 112 days the kits in the experimental group received a complete diet specifically designed for the dwarf rabbits with 10% supplementation of the AV meal. There was found no significant adverse effect on live weight and average daily weight gain in rabbits of the E group. Concerning the anticoccidial effect, the 112-day-old rabbits fed the E diet showed a significantly lower (P <0.05) number of excreted oocysts (1,766 OPG) as compared to those in the C group (6,845 OPG). Based on the results of the present study, there can be suggested that 10% dietary inclusion of the AV meal represents a safe share and it showed a positive effect on the excreted coccidiosis count in dwarf rabbits. However, it would be suitable to perform further studies, when the optimization of a mugwort dietary level during specific life periods of dwarf kits and the selection of other Artemisia botanical species will take a place. In addition, monitoring of more growth traits and biological effects of particular substances contained in Artemisia sp. would be studied on dwarf pet rabbits as well.