Effect dietary vitamins and minerals premix levels on the productive performance of fattening guinea pigs

Abstract

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of five levels of inclusion (0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.3 and 0.4%) of a commercial premix of vitamins and trace minerals in the feed on the productive parameters of fattening guinea pigs from 3 to 6 weeks (post-weaning phase) and from 7 to 10 weeks (pre-slaughter phase). Sixty 14-day-old male guinea pigs of the Peru breed were randomly assigned to 20 pens and 5 treatments, under a completely randomized experimental design. The guinea pigs were fed ad libitum with the concentrate and with restricted green forage for eight weeks. In the post-weaning phase, the treatment with 0.1% premix achieved higher body weight, weight gain and feed conversion rate, while there were no differences between treatments in the pre-slaughter phase. The treatment with 0.4% of the premix caused a higher liver weight in the guinea pigs. It is concluded that fattening guinea pigs with mixed feeding only require the premix used during the post-weaning phase.