PERFORMANCE AND ECONOMICS OF PRODUCTION OF WEANER RABBITS AS AFFECTED BY REPLACEMENT OF RICE OFFAL WITH SUN-DRIED SHEEP RUMEN CONTENT

Abstract

An experiment was carried out at Bauchi State College of Agriculture Rabbitry Unit to determine the replacement value of sundried sheep rumen contents (SDSRC) for rice offal (RO) in the diets of weaner rabbits. Five diets were formulated, such that SDSRC replaced RO at 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% levels and coded as diets 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively. Fifty (50) unsexed mongrel weaner rabbits were randomly assigned to five dietary treatments replicated five times with two rabbits per replicate in a completely randomized design. Feed and water were given ad libitum throughout the experiment. Data were collected on feed intake, weight gain, and economics of production. Performance results revealed no significant differences in all the parameters with the exception of final weight (1369.37-1659.08g) and total feed intake (3250.00-5640.00g) (p<0.05). Feed conversion ratio(FCR) even though similar, but diet 4 (5.01) had the lowest and better FCR among diets. Diet 5 had the lowest feed cost (69.86 ₦/kg), lowest feed cost per kilogram gain (N354.12) and the highest cost saving (N189.53) compared to the reference diet. It was concluded that SDSRC can be used successfully to replace rice offal which is one of the conventional fibre sources in rabbit diets, without adverse effect on performance attributes. Use of SDSRC also had an additional advantage of decreased feed cost and feed cost per kilogram gain.