NITROGEN INTAKE AND NITROGEN RETENTION IN WEANER RABBIT FED DIFFERENT PLANT PROTEIN SOURCES

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine the nitrogen retention in rabbits fed different plant protein source in the livestock teaching and research farm university of Maiduguri from May ˗ August, 2023. The experimental diets T1 (Groundnut cake), T2 (Moringa leaves), T3 (Cowpea husk) and T4 (Groundnut haulm). Twenty (20) rabbits having an average weight of 847.20g were randomly assigned to the four dietary treatments (i.e five rabbits per treatment as replicate) in a complete randomized design, 100g of feed was given on a daily basis and water is ad-libitum. The result of nitrogen retention indicate that rabbits fed T1 (groundnut cake) has the highest nitrogen retention percentage followed by rabbits in T2 (Moringa leaves), T3 (Cowpea husk) and T4 (Groundnut haulm). Therefore, groundnut cake, moringa leaves, cowpea husk and groundnut haulm are acceptable to rabbits when included in their diets.