Abstract
An experiment was conducted to assess the effect of age at weaning on growth and slaughter characteristics of grasscutters (Thryonomis swinderianus). This study was carried out using thirty (30) mixed sex six weeks old juvenile grasscutters, collected ten each from grasscutter populations weaned at different ages of 2, 4 and 6 weeks. The completely randomized design was adopted for the study, with each treatment group (weaning age) being comprised of five replicates of two animals each. Results at the end of the experimental period of fourteen weeks showed that average weekly and daily feed intake were significantly (p > 0.01) influenced by weaning age of the animals. More so, among the carcass traits under evaluation only the tail and neck weights differed (p > 0.05) between the treatment groups. In addition, the small intestine and caecum weights were significantly (p > 0.05) affected by age at weaning of grasscutters.
Highlights
The importance of animal products as a source of protein for human development cannot be overemphasized. Madubuike (2004) reported that protein do possess better amino acid assortments, but are more readily assimilated and are devoid of enzyme inhibitors and other anti-nutritional factors common in plant proteins
Thirty (30) mixed sex six weeks old juvenile grasscutters randomly selected ten each from three populations of pups weaned at different ages of 2, 4 and 6 weeks were used for the study
Results of statistical analysis reveal that body weight and weight gains of grasscutters were not significantly (P > 0.05) different across the treatment groups
Summary
The importance of animal products as a source of protein for human development cannot be overemphasized. Madubuike (2004) reported that protein do possess better amino acid assortments, but are more readily assimilated and are devoid of enzyme inhibitors and other anti-nutritional factors common in plant proteins. The trend in livestock production in Nigeria has been largely dependent on domestic livestock (Lameed & Ogundijo, 2006), which cannot supply the projected animal protein requirement for a population of over 140 million in the country (Wogar et al, 2007). Lameed and Ogundijo (2006) observed that animal protein production in Nigeria from domestic livestock has been falling steadily by about 1.4% annually, while human population has been increasing at an annual rate of 3.3%. The economics of livestock production depends on post-weaning growth performance of young animals as this influences the rate of attainment of market weight. Xiccato et al (2000) in a study on rabbits observed that early weaning of young rabbits could permit increased reproduction rate without negative effects on litters and does performance. Research has shown that early weaning can reduce pathogen transmission between litters and www.ccsenet.org/jas
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