Effect of dietary levels of cooked kapok (Ceiba pentandra) seed meal on growth performance and carcass characteristics of weaner rabbits

Abstract

A 56-day feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effect of feeding varying levels of cooked kapok seed meal (CKSM) on the performance and carcass characteristics of weaner rabbits. Forty 5-week old rabbits with average weight 514.10±0.78g were randomly divided into five groups of 8 rabbits per treatment in a completely randomized design. Each group was randomly assigned to one of the diets containing 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% CKSM. On the 56th day of the experiment, four rabbits from each treatment group were randomly selected for carcass and internal organs evaluation. Results of growth performance revealed no significant differences (P>0.05) across the treatment groups for all the parameters evaluated. Feed cost/kg decreased as the levels of CKSM increased in the diet. Rabbits fed 0%CKSM had the highest (P<0.05) feed cost (₦123.35/kg), while rabbit fed 100% CKSM had the least (₦98.35/kg). Result of carcass, internal organs characteristics and blood profile did not show any significant differences (P>0.05). Digestibility of all the nutrients was not affected (P> 0.05) by the dietary levels of CKSM. It was concluded that CKSM could replace soybean meal up to 100% in weaner rabbit diet without any adverse effect on performance, carcass characteristics and internal organ weights.

Key words: cooked kapok seed meal, performance, carcass, organ weights, rabbits