Growth, Nutrient Digestibility and Carcass Indices of Rabbits fed Varying Levels of Sugarcane Rind Meal

Résumé

The potential of sugarcane peels as a substitute for maize offal in rabbit diets and its effect on growth, nutrient digestibility, and carcass characteristics were studied. Twenty five growing rabbits of mixed breeds and average body weight of 894±26.14g were used in a 7-week feeding trial. Five experimental diets were formulated in which sugarcane rind (SCR) was included at 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40% level to replace maize offal (weight for weight). The rabbits were balanced for weight and allotted to the treatments (n=5rabbits/treatment) in a completely randomized design. Results obtained indicated that dry matter, crude protein, ether extract, nitrogen free extract, hemicellulose, acid and neutral detergent fibre intake and digestibility decreased with increasing level of sugarcane rind inclusion. Crude fibre intake (5.59-8.67 g/day) and digestibility (20.60-40.80%) however increased (P<0.05) as level of sugarcane rind increased in the diet. The 30% inclusion of sugarcane rind gave body weight gain (5.35 g/d) comparable to the control (6.41 g/d), 10 (7.78 g/d) and 20% (7.12 g/d) inclusion of sugarcane peels. Feed intake (44.61-40.59 g/d) decreased as the level of sugarcane rind increased in the diets. There was no significant (P>0.05) effect of sugarcane rind on metabolic body weight and feed efficiency. Inclusion of sugarcane rind at 30% level increased (P<0.05) thigh and head percentage but without any adverse effect on chest, loin, shoulder and skin. Based on the results, it is concluded that sugarcane rind is a good fibre source that can be used to replace maize offal up to 30% in rabbit diets