PERFORMANCE OF GROWING WEANER RABBITS FED GRADED LEVELS OF SHEEP MANURE BASED DIETS

Abstract

A study was carried out to determine the effects of inclusion levels of Sheep Manure on growth performance of growing weaner rabbits. Five isonitrogenous dietary treatments composing of 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40% graded levels of sheep manure were formulated for the study. The experiment was a completely randomized design which lasted for 63 days. Results showed that rabbits fed 20% sheep manure based diet had significantly (P<0.05) higher feed intake, while the least (61.18g/day) was bserved in rabbits fed 40% sheep manure based diet. Final weight gain was statistically (P<0.05) higher in rabbits fed the control diet (1436.30g) and the least was recorded in rabbits fed the 40% diet (1005.50g). Significant (P<0.05) difference in body weight gain was observed across dietary treatments. Rabbits fed 10% and 20% sheep manure, had significantly (P<0.05) higher and similar average daily weight gain (15.74 and 14.50g/d, respectively), compared to those on 30% and 40% sheep manure based diets (10.47 and 8.14g/d, respectively). From the results obtained it can be concluded that Sheep manure can be incorporated up to 20% in the diet of growing rabbits without any adverse effect on their performance.