The aim of the study was to investigate the effects of berberine on growth development and blood parameters of meat rabbits. One hundred and twenty-eight 50-day-old New Zealand rabbits with similar body weight were randomly allotted into four groups by a single factor completely randomized block design. One group was control group and the rest were experimental groups. There were thirty-two replicates in each group and one rabbit in each replicate. The rabbits in the control group were fed a basal diet, and the rabbits in the three experimental groups were fed the basal diets supplemented with 10, 20 and 30 mg/kg berberine hydrochloride, respectively. The whole experiment lasted for 34 days. The duration of the preliminary experiment was 7 days and the duration of the formal experiment was 27 days. The results showed as follows: the rates of mortality and diarrhoea of the experimental rabbits from the four groups were 9.38%, 6.25%, 3.13%, 3.13% and 1.52%, 0.86%, 0.00, 0.00, respectively; the final weight, weight gain, daily gain and carcass weight of the experimental rabbits from the 20 mg/kg group were significantly higher than those of the experimental rabbits from the rest groups (P<0.01); the ratio of feed to gain and dressing percentage of the experimental rabbits from the control group were significantly higher and lower than those of the experimental rabbits from the rest groups (P<0.01), respectively; the daily dry matter intake of the experimental rabbits from the 20 mg/kg group was significantly higher than that of the experimental rabbits from the 10 mg/kg group (P<0.05) and the 30 mg/kg group (P<0.01), respectively; the serum glucose concentration of the experimental rabbits from the control group was significantly higher than that of the experimental rabbits from the rest groups (P<0.05 or P<0.01), and the serum urea nitrogen concentration of the experimental rabbits from the 20 mg/kg group was significantly lower than that of the experimental rabbits from the rest groups (P<0.01); the heart coefficient of the experimental rabbits from the control group was significantly higher than that of the experimental rabbits from the 10 mg/kg group (P<0.05), the liver coefficient, kidney coefficient and viscera coefficient of the experimental rabbits from the control group were significantly higher than those of the experimental rabbits from the rest groups (P<0.05 or P<0.01), and the spleen coefficient of the experimental rabbits from the control group and the 30 mg/kg group was significantly higher than that of the experimental rabbits from the 10 mg/kg group and the 20 mg/kg group (P<0.05 or P<0.01); compared with the experimental rabbits from the control group, the coefficients of stomach, duodenum, jejunum, caecum and gastrointestinal tract of the experimental rabbits from the 20 mg/kg group were significantly increased (P<0.01), the coefficients of duodenum, jejunum, ileum, caecum and gastrointestinal tract of the experimental rabbits from the 10 mg/kg group were significantly increased (P<0.05 or P<0.01), and the coefficients of duodenum, jejunum and caecum of the experimental rabbits from the 30 mg/kg group were significantly increased (P<0.05 or P<0.01), while the appendix coefficient of the experimental rabbits from the 10 mg/kg group was significantly decreased (P<0.01). The results can suggest that berberine supplementation to the diet for meat rabbits, the rates of mortality and diarrhoea and the concentrations of serum glucose and urea nitrogen can be decreased, the growth and finishing performance can be improved, and the development of gastrointestinal tract can be promoted; meanwhile, the development of main visceras can be suppressed, but can not affect their function; in conclusion, 20 mg/kg is the optimum dosage of berberine hydrochloride in the diet of meat rabbits.