EFFECT OF VARIOUS DIETARY LEVELS OF SUNFLOWER SEED MEAL ON THE PERFORMANCE OF GROWING RABBITS IN SUDANO-SAHELIAN ZONE

Abstract

The experiment which lasted for seventy (70) days was conducted to determine the effects of various dietary levels of sunflower seed meal (SSM) on the performance of growing rabbits. Thirty- two (32) indigenous breeds of rabbits obtained from small-scale producers were used in study. They were individually weighed and randomly assigned to the four (4) dietary treatments, in which 0,10, 20 and 30% of the groundnut cake was replaced by SSM, respectively. The diets contained 2391.76, 2387.44, 2383.12 and 2378.80 Kcal ME/kg for diets 1,2,3 and 4, respectively. The crude protein (CP) was approximately 14.0% for the four (4) experimental diets. The diets, in mash form were fed to the rabbits ad libitum. There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) amongst the treatments in all the parameters examined. However, he incorporation of SSM resulted in a considerable decrease in feed cost with increasing levels of SSM. Thc. results of this Study therefore suggest that 30% or more of the GNC could be replaced by SSM in the diets of growing rabbits without deleterious effect on performance.