Anaerobic facultative bacteria isolated from the gut of rabbits fed different diets

Anaerobic facultative bacteria colonizing the intestinal tract of conventional rabbits fed three different diets (standard pellet, hay and pellet/hay mixture) were enumerated in brain heart infusion agar. Colony counts recovered from homogenized samples of small intestine, caecum and rectum differed with reference to the diet given. Among anaerobic groups, identified from rabbit fed pellet/hay mixture, Enterococci (E. faecalis, E. avium, E. faecium and E. durans) represented the predominant flora. Enterobacters (E. cloacae and E. aerogenes) accounted for about 10 to 25% of the bacteria in the rectum and colon respectively, whereas Staphylococci (S. intermedius, S. epidermidis and S. lentus) represented 11% of the bacteria isolated from colon.