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ABSTRACT
Wastage is an inherent behaviour of rabbits as they are fond of scratching, digging in and tossing of feeders with hope to finding the best of feed underneath the feeder. The objective of this study was to evaluate the economy of feed conversion of rabbits reared in hutches with different feeder heights in University of Benin Teaching and Research Farm. Twenty-eight rabbits were assigned to four different treatments with seven replicates in a completely randomized designed such that each rabbit served as a replicate. The treatments comprised a wooden hutch with earthen feeder and metallic hutch with aluminium feeder placed at different heights (0, 2, and 4 inches). Final weight (1387 – 1543 g) and weight gain (561 – 422 g) were not significantly (P>0.05) affected by the treatments. The highest feed intake (2536 g) and feed conversion ratio (5.79) were recorded in the wooden hutch with earthen feeder. Metallic hutch resulted in a significantly (P<0.05) better feed conversion ratio compared to wooden hutch. The highest cost of feed consumed and cost per weight gain was recorded in the wooden hutch with earthen feeder. Less amount of money was needed per weight gain in the metallic hutch compared to the wooden hutches. The height of feeder did not have any significant effect (P>0.05) on the growth performance of rabbit. The highest feed wasted was recorded in the wooden hutch with earthen feeder, and treatment MFH2 recorded the best feed cost and total cost differentials; therefore, to save money on feed, metallic hutch with the aluminium feeder place at 2 inch above the floor level should be used, owing to the high cost differential. Further research is needed to investigate the durability of the metallic hutch and aluminium feeder.
