The effect of fibre sources on the performance of young rabbits

Abstract

A feeding trial lasting 84 days was conducted using 45 weaned rabbits (with weught range 643-652g) to investigate the effect of using millet husk (MH), Rice bran (RB) and Sorghum panicle (SP) as fibre sources for growing rabbits in a completely randomized design. Forty-five young rabbits were randomly assigned to 3 different groups. Fifteen rabbits per treatment. MH, RB, and SP were randomly incorporated at the rate of 150g/kg of diets. The diets were isonitrogenous (16% CP). The effect of these fibre sources on average daily feed intake (ADFI), average daily gain (ADG), feed efficiency nutrient digestion was determined. Results of the study showed that rabbits on MH based diets had a significantly higher (P>0.05) ADFI, feed efficacy and final weight. Though the results of the ADG and average daily crude fibre intake was highest in the MH diet, it was not significantly (P>0.05) different from the results obtained for RB. The RB diet had a better digestibility of all nutrients. This was however not reflected in the performance of  the rabbit. It was concluded that different sources of fibre affect the performance of rabbits differently. In this study, MH was superior to MB and SP as a fibre source for growing rabbits. It is therefore necessary to study the effect of the different fibre sources before incorporating them in concentrate diets.