Dietary inclusion of blanched African bread fruit (Treculia africana) pulp on the growth performance, haematological indices and nutrient digestibility in Weaner rabbits

Abstract

Current study examined the impact of blanched African bread fruit pulp (BABP) on growth per-formance, haematology and nutrient digestibility of Weaner rabbits. A total of 200 60-day-old New Zealand White Weaner rabbits with an average weight of 759.5 g were randomly assigned to five groups and fed 0% (control), 5, 10, 15 and 20 % blanched African bread fruit pulp in a completely ran-domized design. The trial lasted for 7 d of adaptation and 56 d for testing. Growth performance was recorded from 60 to 116 d of age (n=5 per treatment with 40 rabbits, 10 per replicate), haematological indices at 116 d of age and nutrient digestibility from 112 to 116 d of age were determined (n=5 per treatment with 16 rabbits, 4 per replicate). Results showed that dietary BABP supplementation at 15, and 20% decreased (P < 0.05) the feed intake and body weight gain. The digestibility of crude protein, crude fiber, and ether extract were also decreased (P < 0.05). Moreover, rabbit at 15, and 20% showed decreased (P < 0.05) packed cell volume, white blood cell and haemoglobin concentration. It was con-cluded that BABP can be incorporated into rabbit diets up to 5-10% inclusion level, without negatively affecting growth performance, haematological indices and nutrient digestibility of rabbits.