Meat yield, organ weight and blood profile of grower rabbits fed diets containing rice offal, rice bran and rice grain rejects
Abstract
A 12-week feeding trial was conducted to determine the effect of feeding rice offal, rice bran and grain rejects on carcass yield, visceral characteristics and haematological parameters of rabbits. Twenty-five weaner rabbits of both sexes weighing between 345.00 and 348.40g were randomly assigned to five dietary treatments (D1 to D5), with five replicates each. D1 was the control without rice milling by-product, D2 with 20% rice offal, D3 with 20% rice bran, D4 with 20% grain rejects and D5 with 20% 50/50 combination of rice bran/grain rejects. The result of the study showed no dietary effect (P>0.05) on the carcass cuts measured. A similar trend was observed with the visceral organs except oesophagus length which was significantly (P<0.05) lower in D1 and D5. Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that rabbits can be fed diets containing 20% Rice milling by-products with no deleterious effect on the carcass yield, prime cuts, visceral weight and lengths and does not have any negative effect on haematological and biochemical indices of growing rabbits. All values obtained were within the range reported for clinically healthy rabbits. Rabbits can therefore be fed 20% of the rice offal, rice bran and grain rejects without compromising performance and their health.
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References
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