Effect of irish potato peel and yam peel meals on the performance and nutrient digestibility of weaner rabbits

Abstract

A study was conducted to evaluate the nutritive value of Irish potato peel meal (IPPM) and yam peel meal (YPM) on the performance of weaner  rabbits. Twenty-five weaner rabbits were assigned to five dietary treatments of five rabbits each, and were individually caged in a completely randomized design. The rabbits were fed the dietary treatments, where treatment one (T1) was the control with no IPPM and YPM, treatment two (T2) and treatment three (T3) with 20% and 30% IPPM, respectively while treatment four (T4) and five (T5) had 20% each and 30% each of the combination of IPPM and YPM, respectively. The parameters measured were initial weight, final weight, average feed intake, average weight gain, feed to gain ratio, water intake, feed cost/Kg gain, proximate composition and feed digestibility of the feed materials. The result showed that average daily feed intake was significantly higher (P<0.05) in the rabbits fed with the control diet (T1) compared to the other treatments. The feed to gain ratio were similar in all the treatments. The feed cost per kg gain was significantly different (P<0.05) across the treatments. crude protein,  crude fibre and ash digestibility were significantly higher in T1 (control) compared to T2, T3and T5, but was similar to T4. ether extract and NFE digestibility were significantly higher (P<0.05) in T1 compared to all other treatments. It is concluded that, Irish potato peel and yam peel meals can be used to replace maize in the conventional rabbit feed without any adverse effect on their growth performance and nutrient digestibility.

Keywords: potato peel, yam peel, rabbit, performance