The Growth Performance of New Zealand Rabbit Fed with Different Forages as Feed

Abstract

This study was conducted to find out the effect of different forages as feed supplement on the growth of rabbits. Specifically, the study was conducted to determine the performance of rabbit in terms of gain in weight, feed intake and feed conversion ratio using selected forages as feed. Twelve one month old rabbit was used in the study. They were distributed randomly into three treatments using the three different feedstuffs namely: perennial peanut, kikuyu grass and sweet potato. They were assigned such that T1 was the combination of kikuyu grass and sweet potato; T2 was the combination of perennial peanut and sweet potato; and treatment 3 was the combination of the three feedstuffs. Results revealed that the rabbits had no significant differences in terms of gain in weight despite the feed intake of the rabbits fed with perennial peanut + sweet potato and the combination of the perennial peanut, sweet potato and kikuyu grass being higher on dry matter and as fed basis. On feed conversion ratio, the rabbits fed kikuyu grass and sweet potato had better efficiency than those fed kikuyu grass, perennial peanut and sweet potato. Meanwhile, the feed conversion ratio of the rabbits feed perennial peanut and sweet potato was homologous to either groups. Based on the findings, it is therefore concluded the best combination of forages is perennial peanut, kikuyu and sweet potato. Rabbit raisers may feed these forages upon their discretion.