FUW TRENDS IN SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY JOURNAL
(A Peer Review Journal)
e–ISSN: 2408–5162; p–ISSN: 2048–5170
keywords: Blood profile, growth performance, groundnut cake, rabbits, blood profile.
A study was conducted to evaluate the effects of water spinach leaf meal (WSLM) on growth performance, carcass yield and blood profile of weaner rabbits. Six diets were compounded using WSLM to substitute groundnut cake at 0.00, 2.50, 5.50, 7.50, 10.00 and 12.50% which were designated as treatments 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6, respectively. Thirty six (36) weanerrabbits were allotted to the six dietary treatments of six rabbits per treatment and replicated three times with 2 rabbits per replicate in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Results showedthat all the growth parameters measured weresignificant (P<0.05) across the dietary treatments. Average daily Feed intake (ADFI) ranged from 39.10g to 67.10 g while the total weight gain (ADWG) ranged from 10.26 g in T1 to 23.73 g in T5. Better feed conversion ratio was observed in T2 (2.40) while inferior feed conversion ratio (FCR) was observed in T1 (3.81). There was significant difference (P<0.05) in liveweight, carcass weight and dressing percent. The results of internal organs were not significantly affected (P>0.05) across the treatmentsexcept for the heart and caecum which was significantly (P<0.05) influenced by dietary treatments. White blood cell (WBC), MCV and hemoglobin concentration were significantly affected while all the serum biochemical parameters (cholesterol, total protein, albumin, globulin, urea and glucose) measured were not affected by the dietarytreatments. It can be concluded that WSLM can substitute groundnut cake to 12.50 % without adverse effecton the performance and blood profile of weanerrabbits.
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