PERFORMANCE AND ECONOMY OF PRODUCTION OF GROWING RABBITS FED DIETARY REPLACEMENT OF YELLOW MAIZE WITH GRADED LEVELS OF RED SORGHUM WITH OR WITHOUT ENZYME (ENZYBLEND®)
Keywords:
Performance, Economy of production, maize, sorghum, enzyblend, rabbitsAbstract
Maize is one of the major sources of energy in rabbits feed. The use of sorghum is to reduce prices in feeds and effect of replacing maize as energy source for rabbit demands research. A study lasting 84 days was conducted at the Teaching and Research Farm of the Department of Animal Health and Production Technology, Akperan Orshi Polytechnic Yandev, Gboko to evaluate the performance and cost effectiveness of replacing yellow maize with red sorghum in rabbit diets with or without enzyme. A total of 54 weaner rabbits of mixed breed and sexes with initial body weight of 690.84-794.83g were assigned to nine dietary treatments containing six rabbits per treatment with one rabbit per replicate in a completely randomized design of 4×2+1 factorial arrangement having two levels of enzyblend supplementation (with & without). Dietary treatments included: D1: 0 %, D2 :25 %, D3: 50 %, D4 :75 % D5: 100 % red sorghum replacement. The results showed that, increase in the replacement level of sorghum had significant (p<0.05) effects on intake, final weight and average daily weight gain except feed conversion ratio which did not significantly (p>0.05) differed. The results of economic of production showed that the cost per kg diet decreased progressively from 0 (control) to 100 % (₦222.42-₦200.81/kg and ₦222.42-₦199.92/kg) sorghum inclusion levels with and without enzyme supplementation respectively. The feed cost/gain also followed the same trend from control to 100 % (₦1512.46 - ₦1217.51 and ₦1512.46-₦1164.70) with or without enzymes supplementation. A marginal profit was also better for rabbits fed diets with 100 % sorghum replacement level with or without (₦695.62 and ₦592.58) enzyme supplementation which represents a favourable economic implication. The study therefore recommends 100 % sorghum inclusion level to farmers for improved growth and profitability in rabbit production