Response of Weaner Rabbits to Differently Processed Cassava Root Meal-Full Fat Soybean Based Diets

Abstract: Feeding is the most important component of rabbit production, representing 70% of the costs. Research on alternative feed ingredients for rabbit diets like cassava by-products are important for reducing the cost of production. This study investigated the response of weaner rabbits to differently processed cassava root meal-full fat soybean diets. Cassava roots after peeling and washing, were subjected to five different processing methods: unseived, sieved, pulverized, wet-grated and chips before mixing with extruded full-fat soybean at a ratio of 50:50 to obtain five CASSOY blends. The CASSOY were each used at 30% inclusion levels to obtain 5 dietary treatments. Thirty-six weaner rabbits were divided into six treatments with six replicate, a rabbit per replicate. Feed intake, growth, nutrient digestibility, haematology; serum indices, carcass characteristics, sensory evaluation and cost implication were determined for 10 weeks. Data were subjected to one-way analysis of variance in a completely randomized design. Results showed highest (p 0.05) in rabbits fed diet with unsieved cassava root. Highest dressing percentage (60.28%) was recorded for rabbit fed diet with sieved cassava root. Sensory evaluation was significant (p 0.05) feed cost (₦177.04) and feed cost/weight gain were recorded for diet with wet-grated cassava root. The study concluded that experimental diets with CASSOY did not improve the growth performance of rabbits but improved the blood parameters and cost benefit analysis