GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND NUTRIENT DIGESTIBILITY

ABSTRACT

This study was carried out to evaluate the growth performance of rabbit fed ozone-treated groundnut reject meal as replacement for soyabean meal and determine the nutrient digestibility of the diet. Groundnut reject seeds were made to undergo ozone-treatment and prepared into groundnut reject meal (GRM). The meal was used to formulate diet as replacement for soyabean meal. Four dietary Treatments were formulated such that there was partial replacement of soyabean meal at varying levels (0%, 25%, 50% and 75%) with GRM on weight-for-weight basis. Twenty-four growing rabbits of mixed breeds and sexes were used for the experiment. They were randomly divided into four Treatment groups of six animals per Treatment in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) such that each animal served as Replicate. Feeds and water were provided ad libitum. Results showed that growth performances of the rabbits were not significantly (p>0.05) affected across Treatments; however, the rabbits on Treatment 3 (50% replacement diet) were observed to have the highest feed intake and weight gain. The diet had high digestibility values which suggests a high level of degradation of the feed in the gastro intestinal tract of the animals. Groundnut reject meal can be used to replace soyabean meal up to 75% without any negative implication on the growth performance and nutrient digestibility of growing rabbits under the conditions of the study.