454
Performance and nutrient digestibility of weaned rabbits fed cooked albizia seed meal (Albizia sp) as replacement for full-fat soybean meal
A.R. Asafa, and F.P. Agbaye
Lagos State Polytechnic, Ikorodu (email: adeasafa@yahoo.com
Abstract
Nine (9) weaned rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus), 6weeks of age were housed singly and fed cooked Albizia seed meal (CASM) in a completely randomized design (CRD) to evaluate the performance and digestibility. The rabbits were randomly allotted to three dietary treatment groups of three replicates each. T1, which was the control diet (comprised maize, maize offal, groundnut cake full fat soybean, blood meal, palm kernel cake, wheat offal, bone meal, limestone, lysine, methionine, salt and vitamin-mineral premix), had no CASM while T2 and T3 contained 50% and 100% levels of CASM respectively as a replacement for full-fat soya meal (FFSM) on crude protein (CP) basis. The proximate analysis, fibre fraction and anti-nutrient content of cooked Albizia seeds were determined. Weekly body weight and feed intake were measured. At the end of week 3, feacal samples were collected and analyzed to determine the level of digestibility. Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance and significant means were separated using Duncan Multiple range Test. Results showed that rabbits fed with the T1 had the highest (P<0.05) average weight gain of 81.11g/rabbit, as against 63.90 and 51.11g obtained for T2 and T3 respectively (Table 1). The feed intake was best (P<0.05) for rabbits on T1 with value of 930g/week. Rabbits on T2 had the best feed conversion efficiency (12.41). The high crude protein value 29.84 in CASM indicated that the seed could be used as a protein source in rabbit diet. However, the saponin content may serve as anti-nutrient inhibiting its digestibility and utilization. Feed intake, weight gain as well as digestibility co-efficient were significantly affected above 50% inclusion of CASM in the diets. Cooked Albiziaseed could replace FFSM up to 50% on CP basis. Table 1: Weekly performance of weaned rabbits fed cooked albizia seed meal
Variable |
T1 |
T2 |
T3 |
Feed intake (g) |
933a |
767b |
844ab |
Weight gain(g) |
81.11a |
63.9ab |
51.11b |
FCE |
13.14ab |
12.41b |
17.24a |
Digestibility values (%) Dry matter |
61.93b |
62.31a |
62.29a |
Ash content |
86.91b |
88.47ab |
89.15a |
Crude protein |
73.88b |
75.55a |
76.00a |
Crude lipid |
87.35a |
87.14a |
84.02b |
Calcium |
81.64a |
86.46ab |
86.09b |
Phosphorous |
85.06a |
81.29ab |
76.48b |
FCE- Feed Conversion Efficiency
Keywords: performance characteristics, cooked albizia seed, digestibility, weaned rabbit