Toxicity, anti-nutritional factors, and performance characteristics of weaner’s rabbit-fed sprouted Moringa seed meal

Abstract

ten-week feeding trial was conducted to determine the performance of rabbits fed diets containing graded levels of sprouted Moringa seed meal (SMSM). Twenty-four male growing rabbits of mixed breeds were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments. Each treatment group was further subdivided into three (3) replicates of two (2) rabbits each in a completely randomized design (CRD). Four diets were formulated to include SMSM at varying inclusion levels of 0, 5, 10, and 15% for treatments T1, T2, T3, and T4 respectively,
which were pelletized. Feed and water were provided ad libitum. Data were collected on the growth performance of rabbits fed the experimental diets. Results revealed that the average daily feed intake (71.57 ± 3.73 – 85.07 ± 3.83 g) decreased across the dietary treatments as the SMSM inclusion levels increased but a rise was noticed at the highest inclusion level of SMSM (T4). The weight gains and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were not significantly influenced (p>0.05) by the dietary treatments. It can be concluded that SMSM can be supplemented in growing rabbit’s diet without any deleterious effects on the performance. The utilization of SMSM can be used up to 15% on diets and increased income from diets of weaner rabbits.