Author(s)

Alagbe, J. O.^1*, Shittu, M. D.², Ojediran, T. K.³, Anuore, D. N.⁴

Affiliation(s)

¹Department of Animal Nutrition and Biochemistry, Sumitra Research Institute, Gujarat, India.

²Department of Animal Production and Health, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho, Oyo State, Nigeria.

³Department of Animal Nutrition and Biotechnology, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomosho, Oyo State, Nigeria.

⁴Department of Animal Science, University of Abuja, Nigeria.

Corresponding Author

Alagbe, J. O.

ABSTRACT

This experiment was carried out to determine the replacement of maize with melon-groundnut shell meal on the growth performance and some haematological indices of growing rabbits. Fifty- eight weeks old cross breed male growing rabbits with an initial body weight of 406.1 ± 0.60 grams was used for the study. On arrival, animals were quarantined for two weeks and fed basal diet before they were stratified based on their body weights five treatments with ten replicates consisting of one rabbit each in a completely randomized design. Rabbits in treatment one was fed basal diet without melon-groundnut shell meal while melon-groundnut shell meal was used to replace maize at 5 %, 10 %, 15 % and 20 % in treatment two, three, four and five respectively. Feed and clean water was made available at all times and the experiment lasted for 56 days. Proximate analysis of melon-groundnut shell meal (combined in ratio 1:1) showed that it contained dry matter (90.03 %), crude protein (8.46 %), crude fibre (41.51 %), ether extract (2.07 %), ash (10.88 %) and energy (3231.8 Kcal/kg). Average daily weight gain, average daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio values which ranged from 27.75 – 28.10 grams, 105.0 – 105.1 grams and 3.75 – 3.77 were not significantly (P>0.05) influenced by the treatment. Similarly, no mortality was recorded throughout the study (P>0.05). Haemoglobin, pack cell volume and red blood cell count follow similar trend, values were higher in treatment one and lower in treatment two, three, four and five (P<0.05). Total platelet counts and white blood cell count whose values varied from 102.1 – 120.8 (×109/L) and 10.42 – 13.40 (×109/L) were influenced (P<0.05) by the treatment. However, values recorded were within the baseline values for healthy growing rabbits. In conclusion, melon-groundnut shell meal contains some available nutrients and can be used to replace maize up to 20 % without compromising the performance of the animal.

KEYWORDS

Melon shell; Maize; Groundnut shell; Rabbits; Agro-industrial wwaste; Sustainability

CITE THIS PAPER

Alagbe, J. O., Shittu, M. D., Ojediran, T. K., Anuore, D. N. Replacement of maize with melon-groundnut shell meal on the growth performance and haematological indices of growing rabbits. World Journal of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences. 2024, 2(2): 23-29. DOI: 10.61784/wjafs3004.

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