Performance and nutrient utilization of rabbits fed diets based on crop residues fermented with Rhizopus oligosporus

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the performance and nutrient utilization of rabbits fed diets containing corn cob and cowpea husk incubated with Rhizopus oligosporus. A total of twenty four rabbits were assigned to four groups, each divided into three groups of two rabbits per replicate. Four experimental diets containing fermented and unfermented crop residues were formulated. The fermented crop residues were incubated with Rhizopus oligosporus and were allowed to ferment for 48hours. The proximate composition as well as the fibre fractions of the fermented and unfermented crop residues was determined. The experiment was arranged in a 2x2 factorial design and was analysed using analysis of variance. The result indicated that average growth rate of rabbits fed fermented cowpea husk were higher numerically than those fed the other diets. The average weekly feed intake was significantly (p<0.05) affected by the weight gain. Feed efficiency and protein efficiency ratios were not significantly (p>0.05) affected by fibre sources while fermentation did not impose any significant impact on these parameters. Rhizopus fermentation improved the performance and utilization of crude fibre, phosphorus, ADF and NDF by rabbits fed corn cob and cowpea husk. It was concluded that corn cob and cowpea husk possessed the potential as fibre sources in rabbit ration.