Thermoregulatory and growth performance of weaner rabbits fed diets supplemented with brewers dried grain

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to determine the thermoregulatory parameters and growth performance of weaner rabbits fed diets supplemented with brewers dried grain (BDG). A total of 20 weaner rabbits were used for the study with different inclusion levels (0%, 10%, 15%, and 20%) of BDG. The rabbits were randomly allotted to four treatment groups with five replicates for each treatment (1 rabbit per replicate). T1 was the control diet with 0% BDG inclusion, T2 had 10% inclusion, T3 had 15% and T4 had 20% BDG inclusion. Thermoregulatory parameters; rectal temperature, ear temperature, skin temperature, heart rate, and respiratory rate were measured weekly, initial weight was recorded, weight gain was recorded weekly and feed intake was measured daily. The result of the thermoregulatory parameters showed significant difference in rectal and ear temperatures; the lowest rectal and ear temperatures were recorded in rabbits on T1 (39°C and 38.05°C), followed by T2 (38.83°C and 37.98°C), T3 (39°C and 38.05°C), and T4 (39.83°C and 38.63°C). No significant difference was recorded for heart rate, respiratory rate and skin temperature. The result of the experiment showed that the control treatment had the best performance in terms of thermoregulation. Significant differences were (p<0.05) observed in the total weight gain, rabbits on T1 had the highest value (660.0g), followed by those on T3 (545.0g), T4 (505.0g) and T2 (450.0g). There was no significant difference (p<0.05) observed in the weight gain per day, mortality, total feed intake and feed intake per day across treatments. However, T3 (30% inclusion) showed a very plausible performance after T1 both in terms of growth performance and thermoregulation. T4 and T2 gave a good performance, though not as strong as T1 and T3. The experiment showed that brewers dried grain (BGD) could be successfully incorporated in rabbit feed to obtain a favorable performance while maintaining a normal body temperature.