Effect of dietary supplementation of ensiled rice straw with molasses on the performance, nutrient digestibility and haematology of Yankasa rams

A study was carried out to determine the effect of feeding ensiled rice straw with molasses as supplement on growth performance and nutrient digestibility of Yankasa rams. Fifteen Yankasa rams with average weight of 17k±0.5g and aged between 7-9 months were used for 90days feeding trial. The straw was ensiled with 5% urea and was fed as a basal diet. Five graded levels of molasses; 0, 2.5, 3.5, 4.5 and 5.5% were used as supplement and were designated as treatments 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5, respectively. Fifteen Yankasa rams were then allotted to five treatments in a completely randomized design and were replicated three times with one animal per replicate. Results shows that all parameters evaluated for growth performance were significantly (P<0.05) influenced by dietary treatments. Average Daily feed intake was significantly (P<0.05) in animals on treatment 5(454.42g), while those on the control diets T1 (372.43g) had the lowest average daily feed intake. Similarly, animals on T5 (108.11g) had the highest average daily weight gain when compared to those on T2 (69.11g) and the control T1 (73.33g). Feed conversion ratio was better in animals fed T3 (4.14) and T4 (4.14) and followed by those on T5 (4.20). The result of Nutrient intake though significantly different across the treatment groups, did not followed any particular pattern. The rumen pH and ammonia concentration before and after feeding were similar across the treatments. The haematological measurements were all similar across the treatments, while the serum biochemical indices were significantly different (P<0.05) across the treatments except for glucose. Keywords: Intake, Weight gain, Haematology, Yankasa rams, Ensiled rice stra

Effect of dietary levels of cooked kapok (Ceiba pentandra) seed meal on growth performance and carcass characteristics of weaner rabbits

A 56-day feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effect of feeding varying levels of cooked kapok seed meal (CKSM) on the performance and carcass characteristics of weaner rabbits. Forty 5-week old rabbits with average weight 514.10±0.78g were randomly divided into five groups of 8 rabbits per treatment in a completely randomized design. Each group was randomly assigned to one of the diets containing 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% CKSM. On the 56th day of the experiment, four rabbits from each treatment group were randomly selected for carcass and internal organs evaluation. Results of growth performance revealed no significant differences (P>0.05) across the treatment groups for all the parameters evaluated. Feed cost/kg decreased as the levels of CKSM increased in the diet. Rabbits fed 0%CKSM had the highest (P<0.05) feed cost (₦123.35/kg), while rabbit fed 100% CKSM had the least (₦98.35/kg). Result of carcass, internal organs characteristics and blood profile did not show any significant differences (P>0.05). Digestibility of all the nutrients was not affected (P> 0.05) by the dietary levels of CKSM. It was concluded that CKSM could replace soybean meal up to 100% in weaner rabbit diet without any adverse effect on performance, carcass characteristics and internal organ weights.Key words: cooked kapok seed meal, performance, carcass, organ weights, rabbit

Effect of feeding raw and differently processed kapok (Ceiba pentandra) seed meal on the growth performance and carcass characteristics of weaner rabbits

The study was conducted to determine the effect of feeding raw and differently processed kapok seed meal on the growth performance, carcass characteristics, internal organ weights and blood profile of weaner rabbits. Forty eight weaner rabbits were randomly assigned to six dietary treatments containing 0% kapok seed meal (T1), 10% RKSM (T2), 10% CKSM (T3), 10% TKSM (T4), 10% FKSM (T5) and 10% SKSM (T6) in a completely randomized design. Each treatment group had 8 rabbits replicated four times with 2 rabbits per replicate. The proximate composition of raw and differently processed kapok seed meal showed that crude protein contents ranged between 22.59±0.04 - 34.82±0.11%, while the crude fibre values varied between 9.28±0.89 - 17.45±0.06%. Cooked and fermented kapok seed meal had significantly (P <0.05) higher metabolisable energy content than raw and other processed kapok seed meals. Cooked kapok seed meal had lower values in all anti-nutritional factors, with trypsin inhibitor completely deactivated by cooking, fermenting and toasting. The result of the growth performance showed that final body weight and total feed intake of rabbits in control diet and CKSM were significantly (P<0.05) higher than that of rabbits in RKSM, FKSM, TKSM and SKSM groups. Rabbits on RKSM had the lowest final body weight gain, total feed intake, daily weight gain, average daily feed intake and poor feed conversion ratio (FCR) values compared to the processed kapok seed meal group. FCR ranged from 3.92±0.92 in CKSM to 4.70±0.31 in RKSM diets. Rabbits fed CKSM showed significantly (P<0.05) better FCR. Differences (P<0.05) were found in carcass, dressed, liver, liver, lungs, kidney weights. It was concluded that rabbits fed diets containing cooked kapok seed meal had the best growth performance and carcass characteristics. It could be suggested that cooking was the most efficient processing method in reducing anti-nutritional factors in kapok seed.Keywords: Kapok seed, Processing Methods, Anti-nutritional factor, Growth performance, Rabbit

Effect of yeast treated bovine blood-rumen content mixture on performance and blood profile of weaner rabbits

The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of yeast treated Bovine blood–rumen content mixture (YTBRM) on performance of 60 weaner rabbits with an average weight of 501.96 ± 0.22g. The rabbits were randomly assigned to five dietary treatments with five replicates in a completely randomized design. T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 had 0%, 10%, 20%, 30% and 40% YTBRM. Data were collected on growth performance, carcass characteristics and haematological indices. At the end of the experiment, 4 rabbits were randomly selected from each treatment and slaughtered to determine the effect of graded levels of YTBRMon carcass yield and internal organs characteristics. The result of growth performance revealed that all parameters measured were significantly (P<0.05) affected by the dietary inclusion of YTBRMexcept for feed conversion ratio which ranged from 3.05 in T1 to 3.64 in T2.Average daily feed intake was significantly (P<0.05) higher (101.69) in treatment T5 while the other treatment groups were similar.. Average daily weight gain were significantly higher in T5 (29.72g) and T4 (28.05g) while the least value was obtained in T2 (25.46g). Carcass yield was significant (P<0.05) across the treatment groups. Dressing percentages were significantly (p<0.05) higher in T2 (82.35%), T1 (77.62%) and T4 (74.08%) than T5 (63.57%) and T3 (69.79%). Result of the internal organs shows that they were all similar across the treatment groups. Haematological and biochemical indices shows no significant diffrerence (P>0.05) in all the parameters evaluated. It could be concluded from this study that YTBRM can be included up to 40% in weaner rabbits diet without adverse effect on the growth performance, blood profile, carcass and internal organs characteristics