GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND CARCASS CHARACTERISTIC OF WEANER RABBITS FED WITH DIETS CONTAINING AFRICAN PEAR (Dacryodes edulis) SEED MEAL

Abstract

The effect of replacing maize with Ajrican pear seed meal (APSM) on the growth and carcass characteristics of weaned rabbits was investigated for fifty six days in completely randomized design experiment. Four dietary treatments that comprise APSM included at 0%, 20%, 40% and 60% in the diet as partiai/total replacement for maize, were fed to twenty four weaned rabbits of average initial weight 847. 2544, 11g. Data collected included average feed intake, average weight gain, carcass characteristics as weil as weight of some specific organs. Results revealed that increasing levels of APSM significantly (P<0.05) increased the liver weight expressed as percentage of live weight, while the growth and other carcass characteristic variables investigated were not significantly (P>0.05) influenced by the dietary treatments. Therefore APSM can replace maize in the diets of growing rabbits