Weight for weight replacement of wheat offal with cassava root sievate in growing rabbit diet

Abstract

A ten week feeding trial was conducted to investigate the dietary effect of Cassava Root Sievate (CRS) based diet on the performance, nutrient digestibility, blood parameters and carcass characteristics of weaner rabbits. Forty-eight (48) crossbred, 7 weeks old weaner rabbits were used in the feeding trial in a completely randomized design. The CRS replaced wheat offal at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30%, respectively resulting in seven dietary treatments, respectively. No significant (P>0.05) difference was observed between the rabbits fed the CRS and control diets in all the performance indices except the daily and final body weight. Weight gain however decreased significantly (P<0.05) as the CRS level increased in the diet. The treatment effect was significant (P<0.05) with the highest crude protein, crude fibre and dry matter digestibility values recorded for the rabbit in the control group. Daily energy intake and retained, digestible energy, metabolizable energy and gross energy were similar (P>0.05) across treatments. Biological value and apparent nitrogen digestibility were significantly (P<0.05) decreased with increased CRS level. Blood serum metabolites of the rabbits were also positively (P<0.05) influenced by the treatments. The carcass characteristics showed significance (P<0.05) in terms of carcass yield percentage with 20% CRS treatment group having the highest carcass yield percentage. It was concluded in this study that CRS could be included in weaner rabbit diets up to 20% without compromising performance, carcass yield, digestibility and nutrient utilization.