GRAIN REPLACEMENT VALUE OF TIGER NUT (Cyperus esculentus L.) MILK RESIDUE MEAL ON PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS AND NUTRIENT DIGESTIBILITY OF GROWING RABBITS

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine the effect of varying inclusion levels of Tiger nut milk residue meal (TNMRM) on performance characteristics and nutrient utilization of growing rabbits. Thirty crossbred grower rabbits of mixed sexes were used for the experiment which lasted for eight (8) weeks. The animals were randomly distributed after weight balancing into five (5) treatments of six (6) replicate each with a rabbit per replicate in a completely randomized design. Five experimental diets were formulated such that the control diet (T1) had no TNMRM inclusion. TNMRM substituted 5, 10, 15 and 20% of maize respectively in the other treatments. At the 8th week, three rabbits from each treatment were transferred to metabolic cages for digestibility study for three days. All performance characteristics measured were significantly affected (p<0.05) except the final weight. The highest feed intake, weight gain, feed cost/KG and feed cost/KG/WG were recorded in T1 while the highest feed:gain ratio was shown in T2. There were no significant differences (p<0.05) in the nutrient digestibility except in the crude protein digestibility. The highest crude protein digestibility was shown in T5. It is concluded that tiger nut milk residue meal can be fed up to 20% in the diet for growing rabbits without adverse effect on all the parameters measured.