Feed Intake And Weight Gain Of Rabbits Fed Diets With Different Cassava Leaf Meal Inclusions
Egigba, G. O
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria
Agor, U. S
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria
Bamikole, M. A
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria
Ikhatua, U. J
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, University of Benin, Benin City, Nigeria
Abstract
This study examined the feed intake and weight gain of twenty (20) weaner rabbit of mixed breeds and sexes fed diets with different cassava leaf meal (18.9 % crude protein and 8.67 % crude fibre) inclusions to replace palm kernel cake (PKC) as a protein source at 0% (control, T1), 25% (T2), 50% (T3), 75% (T4) and 100% (T5). Four (4) animals were randomly allocated into each of the five (5) dietary treatments in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Feed and water were provided ad libitum for 70 days. The dry matter intake (d/day) obtained during this study were 56.57, 54.88, 52.21, 56.95 and 51.68 for treatments 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively with no significant difference (P > 0.05) between them. Consequently, the average daily weight gains (g/day) were not affected (P > 0.05) by the dietary treatments with values of 5.45, 4.40, 5.39, 3.57 and 4.55 for treatments 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively. The intakes of crude protein and organic matter followed a similar pattern, showing no significant difference (P > 0.05) among dietary treatments. Significant variations were observed in the crude fibre (g/day) intakes with values 7.04, 6.61 and 6.08 for treatments 2, 3 and 4 respectively compared to those of treatment 1 (9.43) and treatment 5 (4.48). In addition, the feed conversion efficiency (FCE) differed significantly with the highest from treatment 1 (0.09) and lowest treatment 4 (0.06). The study revealed that the CLM is rich in nutrients especially crude protein and it can be used as a partial or total replacement for PKC, however there may be cases of diarrhoea which can be avoided if the crude fibre requirement is met.