Digestibility of minerals in proprietary feed by rabbits and their manure quality

Abstract

In this study, apparent mineral digestibility by rabbits and their manure quality were examined using proprietary poultry pelleted feed tagged F1, F2, F3 and F4 fed to 12 rabbit bucks of the New Zealand White x Chinchilla crossbreed aged 16 weeks shared into 3 animals per group and housed individually in wire cages. They underwent three days adjustment period and 7 days faecal collection. Each animal was fed 200g of their allotted feed/day without forage. The collected faeces from each replicate were collected, bulked, refrigerated, weighed, dried and analysed for mineral content. The Completely Randomized Design and One–Way ANOVA were used. Data were analysed using SPSS software while significant means (p<0.05) were separated using LSD. Results show the Na, K, Ca, P and Mg contents of feed ranged from 0.23–0.27, 0.79–0.85, 0.87–0.98, 0.48–0.52, 0.34–0.38%, respectively, while the Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn ranged from 2.80–4.50, 56.00–69.35, 5.65–7.60 and 11.40–13.55mg/kg, respectively. The apparent digestibility values of Na, K, Ca, P, Mg, Cu, Fe, Mn and Zn ranged from 26.20–29.06, 18.44–27.96, 21.63–27.99, 38.46–54.45, 37.79–44.20, 46.67–78.57, 28.70–38.66, 42.76–61.06 and 30.63–43.42%, respectively while the DM, N, K, and P contents of the manure ranged from 87.54–88.35, 1.41–1.54, 0.57–0.70 and 0.22–0.32%, respectively. There were significant differences (p<0.05) among feed minerals, percent digestibility and manure minerals. The Na, K, Ca, P, Mg, Cu, Fe and Mn contents in feed could satisfy rabbit needs while others may not. Digestibility of P , Mg, Cu, Zn, Fe and Mn were acceptable while others were low. The N and P in the manures may need supplementation with organic manures rich in these minerals. In conclusion, F3 with better digestibility values is recommended as rabbit feed, while F4 manure is recommended for soils low in P and K .