Response of Weaner Rabbits Fed Diets Containing Varying Levels of Raw Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) Seed Meal as Replacement for Groundnut Cake
Abstract
This study was conducted to determine the effect of feeding varying levels of raw okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) seed meal on the growth performance of weaner rabbits. Eighteen (18) weaner rabbits with average weight of 500±0.10g were used for the study. The experimental animals were randomly allotted to three dietary treatments in a completely randomized design. Three experimental diets were compounded using raw Okra seed meal (ROSM). Treatment 1 contained (0%ROSM) which served as the control, while treatments’2 and 3 contained 10% and 20% ROSM, respectively. Data collected during the experiment were final body weight, total body weight gain, total feed intake, daily feed intake, feed conversion ratio, carcass characteristics, internal organ weights and blood parameters. Data obtained during the experiment were subjected to one way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results of the growth performance showed that there were significant (p<0.05) differences across dietary treatments. Final body weight (FBW), average daily weight gain (ADWG), average daily feed intake (ADFI) and feed conversion ratio of Rabbits fed T1 (0%ROSM) recorded significantly (p<0.05) higher values compared to other treatment diets. Among the raw okra seed meal (ROSM) base diets, rabbits fed T3 (20%ROSM) diet recorded significantly lower final body weight gain, average daily feed intake and average daily weight gain. The dressing percentages varied from 71.45 (T1) to 47.26% in (T3) and were significantly (p<0.01) affected by the dietary treatments. There were significantly (P<0.01) difference in the organ weights among the treatment groups. Rabbit fed T3 (20%ROSM) recorded relative highest lungs (0.79) heart (0.65) and kidney (0.61) weights. The result for large intestine length (103.67), small intestine length (201.89) were all significantly (P<0.01) different across the treatment groups. Haematological and serum biochemical indices showed that haemoglobin, and white blood cell count varied significantly (P<0.01) among treatment groups. It was concluded that inclusion of ROSM beyond 10% in the diet of weaner rabbits adversely affected their growth performance. Therefore, it was recommended that rabbit farmers should include ROSM in the diet of rabbits up to 10% in weaner rabbit diets
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References
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