Dried rumen waste as feedstuff for growing rabbits

Abstract

This study was carried out to evaluate the growth performance, carcass chaaracteristics and haematological parameters of growing rabbits fed diets containing graded levels of Dried Rumen Waste (DRW) as a replacement for maize. A total of 48 weaner rabbits (mixed breed, average weight, 471 + 0.2 g) were randomly allocated to four dietary treatments comprising graded levels of 0, 10, 20, and 30 % DRW in the diets. Diet 1 (0% DRW) served as the control diet. Each of the four treatments was replicated thrice. Each replicate had four rabbits in a Completely Randomized Design. Feed and water were supplied ad libitum throughout the study period. All the performance indicators (average daily gain, 14.77 – 15.87 g; feed conversion ratio, 3.71-4.06) remained similar (P>0.05) regardless of the inclusion levels of DRW in the diets except the average daily intake (56.94-64.38 g; P<0.05). Red blood cell counts (4.10-6.10 x g/100ml) increased (P>0.05) while mean corpuscular volume (76.00-90.24 fl) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin (24.51-30.00 pg) decreased (P>0.05) in response to the inclusion levels of DRW in the diets. All the serum indices measured were not significantly influenced (P>0.05) by the treatments. It was concluded that DRW could replace 30 % dietary maize in the diets of growing rabbits without compromising growth performance, and health status of growing rabbits.