Evaluation of poultry litter as feedstuff for growing rabbits

P A Onimisi and J J Omage

Animal Science Department, Ahmadu Bello University, Samaru Zaria, Nigeria
onimisiphil@yahoo.com

Abstract

Twenty five eight weeks old growing rabbits of mixed breeds and sexes were used to evaluate the nutritive value of poultry litter (PL) by a graded level substitution of maize and soyabeans in the diet. There were five dietary treatments with five rabbits per treatment housed individually in cages in complete randomization. The treatment diets contained 0, 8, 16, 24, and 32% level of PL respectively. The rabbits were fed the treatment diets for the 8 weeks period of the experiment.

Average daily weight gain and feed to gain ratio were not statistically different among the dietary treatments.

It may be concluded from the results of this experiment that poultry litter could replace up to 32% of maize - soyabeans in rabbit diets without detrimental effects on growth performance.

Keywords: Growing rabbits, growth performance, poultry litter

Introduction

In most developing countries, the livestock industry keeps having difficulty in supplying the much needed animal protein by the populace. This has largely been due to the high costs of livestock feeds. Generally, feed accounts for upward of 60% of the total costs of raising farm animals. Shortage of the conventional feedstuffs like maize and soyabeans (which has led to the high costs of feeds for livestock) is occasioned by the competition between man and livestock for these feed sources (Vander Zijpp 1997; Emenalon 2004).

The world population is ever increasing. In the developing countries in particular increases in population practically erodes increases in food production leaving no hope of ever having surplus grains to compound economically viable livestock feeds. (Christopher et al 1997; Onimisi 2005). Current research efforts in most developing countries are therefore aimed at identifying potential feed sources that have little or no demand by humans. Such could be cheap and available for compounding livestock rations as it will reduce or remove the competition between man and livestock, and among livestock for feed sources. Some of such potential feed materials that are being investigated include by - products from the Gari processing industry and wastes from cattle ranches, abattoirs, and poultry houses (Alawa and Umunna 1993; Abudulmalik et al 1994). Among these, poultry litter promises to be of great use in solving the problem of feedstuff for animals as it is relatively available and is not consumed by man. The abundant supply of this raw material could enhance production by reducing the cost of compounded feeds.

The choice of rabbit for this trial is based on the facts that the domestic rabbit has the potential of becoming one of the very important livestock species in developing countries due to its short generation interval, high fecundity and rapid growth rate compared to cattle which have very slow growth rate and long generation interval, and which currently forms the major source of animal protein (Balogun and Balogun 1980). Rabbit is the best form of subsistence meat supply most suited for the rural populace. Rabbit farming is also easy to start, requiring minimal cost. Importantly too, is the fact that rabbit meat is of superior quality to most other meats, being very low in fat/cholesterol contents, relatively low in energy and high in protein contents.

Increasing rabbit production through low cost feeds will therefore be of immense contribution to the quest for increased animal protein supply in most of our developing countries

The objectives of this work were;

1. To determine the level to which PL can replace maize/soyabeans in rabbit diet

2. To determine the effect of PL on growth performance parameters of growing rabbits.

Materials and methods

Experimental diets

The poultry litter used for this work was collected from a deep litter broiler pen. It was spread and air - dried for one week while raking at intervals. Stones and other foreign materials were removed. When dried, the litter was ground to break up lumps and to reduce particle size. Samples were subjected to proximate analysis (AOAC 1990). The proximate composition is shown in table 1.

Other components of the diets like soyabeans were processed in the conventional way.

Table 2 shows the percentage composition and the calculated analysis of the treatment diets.

Experimental animals

The rabbits used for this work were purchased at 6 weeks of age, and nursed further for another 2 weeks on a common diet, and this served a good adjustment period for the rabbits. To commence the trial, the rabbits were weighed individually and distributed into 5 groups of similar initial weight. Each group was allotted one of the treatment diets. Rabbits were housed individually in cages in complete randomization.

Growth study

Each treatment group of rabbits was subjected to one of the five experimental diets which contained 0, 8, 16, 24 and 32% PL respectively for the eight weeks of the experiment. Each rabbit was supplied 100g of feed and clean water each day for the eight weeks. Daily feed consumption was measured for each rabbit.  Precautions were taken to minimize feed spillage. Rabbits were weighed weekly and individually.

Statistical analysis

All data collected were subjected to Analysis of Variance, using the SAS general linear model to determine differences of means among the dietary treatments. Significant levels of difference among means were determined using the Duncan Multiple Range Test (SAS 1995).

Results and discussion

The growth performance of the rabbits is shown in Table 3

Generally, feed consumption increased with higher levels of PL in the diet. Average daily weight gain for all the rabbits were not significantly different (p>0.05) among the dietary treatments.The significant increases in daily feed intake and the non - significant differences in daily weight gain observed in this work agree with the results of earlier researchers like Balogun and Balogun (1980) who fed poultry manure and reported that increasing the manure level in the diet significantly increased feed consumption but with non significant difference in growth rate. Garder and Shmeller (1986) similarly reported that the incorporation of up to 25% PL in the diet when the other components were of high energy concentration did not significantly affect rate of gains. Alawa and Umunna (1993) stated that the inclusion of most agro - industrial by products in livestock rations has often resulted in increased feed intake as a compensation for the reduced energy concentration of such diets.

The inclusion of PL at the various levels in the diets did not depress the efficiency of the rabbits in terms of feed conversion. This agrees with the findings of Auxilla et al (1982) who reported that rabbits fed 8.0 - 25.0% PL showed non-significant differences in their feed conversion efficiencies.

Conclusions

• Poultry litter can replace maize/soyabeans up to 32% in concentrate diets for rabbits without any adverse effect on growth performance.

• Since poultry litter can be obtained at little or no cost, its inclusion in rabbit diets by farmers will significantly reduce the costs of production.

References

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Received 13 July 2006; Accepted 14 September 2006; Published 1 November 2006

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