Obinne, J. I., Mmereole, F. U.C.
Abstract
An experiment was conducted to test the effects of different dietary crude protein and energy levels on the production performance, carcass characteristics and organ weights
of rabbits raised under the humid environment of Nigeria. Twenty-seven 6-8 weeks -old cross bred kittens (comprising New Zealand White, Flemish Giant and California as
(parent- stock) of mixed sexes, were fed diets containing 14.2,16.2 and 18.1 % crude protein(CP) and 6.7, 8.7 and 10.8 MJ/kg digestible energy (DE) respectively.
The experiment lasted for 84 days. The rabbits were assigned to the nine dietary treatments in a 3 x 3 factorial design with three rabbits per treatment. Each rabbit was
housed in an individual hutch. Feed and water were supplied ad libitum. Faecal excretions were collected in perforated catch tray in the last 7days of the feeding trials.
The rabbits were slaughtered and dressed at the end of the experiment. Data generated were subjected to statistical analysis using Genstat (2000) statistical package.
Dietary crude protein and DE levels produced highly significant effects (P < 0.01) on carcass dressing percentage but had no significant (P> 0.05) effects on carcass yield.
However, carcass yield significantly (P< 0.05) increased as dietary crude protein levels increased. Weight of lungs and liver expressed as percentage of the body weight
significantly (P < 0.05) improved with increasing levels dietary crude protein and digestible energy in the feed compositions. Weights of heart and abdominal fat were not
significantly (P > 0.05) affected by the dietary combination. Based on the carcass dressing percentage, a diet with 16.2% crude protein and 6.7 MJ/kg digestible energy is
proposed as being able to produce optimum meat yield under the conditions of this experiment
Key words:
Rabbits, Protein and energy levels, organ weights, dressing percentage, carcass characteristics