Carcass and Nutrient Digestibility Trial of Growing Rabbits fed Cooked Bambara Nut Meal as Replacement for Groundnut Cake in a Semi-arid Zone of Nigeria

Abstract

A ten-weeks feeding trial was conducted to determine the effect of replacing groundnut cake (GNC) with cooked Bambara nut meal (CBNM) on the performance of growing rabbits. Thirty mixed breed (New Zealand White X Dutch) of rabbits six to seven weeks of age with initial body weight of 604.50 g were caged individually and allotted to five(5) dietary treatments. Each treatment had six (6) replications. The rabbits were given diets and clean drinking water ad libitum throughout the period of experiment. In diets 1(control), 2, 3, 4 and 5 CBNM replaced GNC at 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%, respectively. The parameters determined werenutrients digestibility and carcass components. All data collected in the course of the experiment were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using the completely randomized design (Steel and Torrie, 1980) and where applicable Duncan’s multiple range test, was used for mean separation.There were no significant differences (P>0.05) among treatment groups in terms of nutrient digestibility except for Nitrogen-free extract (NFE). There were no significant difference (P>0.05) among treatment groups for all carcass parameters measured except for the dressed weight, dressing percentage; and racks expressed as percentage of slaughter weight. The retail cuts as percentage of slaughter weight differ significantly (P<0.05) for racks while the shoulder, loins and thighs did not differ (P>0.05) among treatment groups.