Effects of the dietary replacement of maize with sun-dried cocoa pods on the performance of growing rabbits

Abstract

Twenty seven mixed-breed growing rabbits (1.2-1.3 kg body weight) aged 10-12 weeks were used to study the effects of the dietary replacement of maize with sun-dried cocoa pod husks on the performance of growing rabbits in a 6-week trial. Three treatment diets were compounded whereby sun-dried cocoa pod husks replaced maize at 0, 50, and 100 %, respectively. The animals were divided among the three treatment diets so that each diet had 3 replicates of 3 animals each. Feed intake and weight gain were recorded; faeces were also collected for digestibility trials, and cost analysis was also carried out. Results showed a significant difference (P < 0.05) in daily feed intake between the dietary treatments. However, there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in the final metabolic weights, total metabolic weight gain, daily growth rate, and feed conversion ratio between the treatments. The digestibility study showed a decrease in the digestibility of dry matter and metabolisable energy with the increase in cocoa pod husk inclusion. Cost analysis indicate that significant net gains can be made by incorporating 200 g sundried cocoa pod husks per kg of the diet of growing rabbits compared with the same proportion of maize. These results suggest that sun-dried cocoa pod husks can totally replace maize and provide a cheap source of energy in the diets of growing rabbits.

Effect of Moringa Oleifera Leaf Meal (Molm) on the Growth, Carcass, Heamatology and Biochemical Parameters of Rabbits

“…The rabbits weight gains for T1 and T2 diets are different to those obtained (20, 1 and 20,1g / day) by Dougnon, et al and Esong, et al [2,5]. On the other hand, the average daily weight gain for control feed (25.37 g/d) is much higher than those reported by these authors.…”

“…The use of forage and other agro industrial by-products have become an area of interest for many researchers because of the challenges posed by the high cost of conventional feedstuff [1]. In Cameroon, rabbit production is mainly practiced under traditional management systems in rural areas and so has not yet attained its full production potential [2].…”

The effect of technology on the development and income of goat business in Kulon Progo, Yogyakarta

“…Income from goat farming of farmer in model A (IDR 3.28 million) is increased than model B (IDR 0.97 million), partly because the goat sold and goat added value in farmer model A is higher than model B (Table 3). According to Esong, et al [9] the increase of goat farming income gained from more profitable sale of goats. The result of goat sales is mainly obtained from the sale of goat which has been prepared by farmers for sale on the event of Eid-al Adha.…”

“…In Nigeria, Ghana and India, the cocoa pod husk is generally used as feed [5,6,7]. There have been many studies on the use of cocoa pods as feed [8,9,10], even silage is made from cocoa pods [11,12,13] and efforts to improve feed quality using cocoa pods [14,15]. However, research on the use of cocoa leaves as goat feed is still scarce and many farmers have not used cocoa leaves to feed goats either in fresh form or silage.…”

Mass Balance and Compositional Analysis of Biomass Outputs from Cacao Fruits

“…The tensile strength, flexural strength, and modulus of thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) were improved by the addition of CH fibers [ 22 ]. In the field of animal nutrition, CH can be a substitute for traditional ingredients, like replacing maize as a dietary staple for raising rabbits [ 23 ] or pigs [ 24 ].…”