Thirty six young New Zealand white rabbits were used in a randomised complete block (RCB) design with a 3×2 factorial treatment experiment to study the suitability of sorghum as substitute for maize in the diet of growing rabbits in Kenya. Six different diets were formulated to contain 35% of one of the three different types of grain (maize, white sorghum or brown sorghum) and one of the two different levels of crude protein (CP) 16 or 18.5% and fed to growing rabbits for a period of six weeks. The tannin content of the grains was 0.05, 0.52 and 5.6% chatechin equivalents for maize, white and brown sorghum respectively. Weaning weight at 35 days of age was used as the blocking criterion at the beginning of the experiment. Results of feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion efficiency, feed digestibility, as well as the blood parameters, indicated that white sorghum was not significantly different from maize. Animals fed on diets containing brown sorghum had a lower average daily gain (ADG) and a poorer feed conversion efficiency (FCE) (p<0.01) in comparison with those fed on diets containing maize or white sorghum. The 18.5% CP level gave a better FCE (p<0.05) compared with the 16% CP level. However, increasing the level of CP did not improve the utilisation of any of the grains. It was concluded that white sorghum could effectively substitute maize in the diet of growing rabbits. On the other hand, the use of brown sorghum in the diets of growing rabbits may compromise their growth rate. This may be due to the high concentration of tannins in the brown sorghum.

and Isiolo, they market the milk in major towns like Nanyuki and Nairobi. This has proved useful and economical. There are now small dairy plants being developed in several regions of northern Kenya to promote commercial camel milk production by the Kenyan Government, aided by the European Union. Utilization of fresh and sour milk is the mainstay of these communities because the amount of milk produced by camels is higher compared to that of zebu cattle (Karue, 1998).Camels continue to produce milk during very dry periods when cattle and goats are barely surviving. However, milk production and calf growth rates in camels are generally low, which is attributed to an insufficient access to water and/or to the consumption of forages low in protein, energy and minerals. In most parts of northern Kenya, especially Isiolo and Laikipia, pastoralists are sedenterizing and, as a result, areas covered during grazing and browsing are limited, consequently deficiencies of certain minerals like P, Cu and Co are likely. The current demand for milk calls for extra feeding and mineral

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