Abstract

Aim: The study was aimed to investigate the performance and carcass characteristic of Rabbits fed Mucuna utilis leaf meal diet.

Method and Materials: Mucuna utilis leaf meal were fed at 0, 5, 10, 15, and 20% levels of inclusion in the experimental diets designated as T₁, T₂, T₃, T₄ and T₅, respectively. Each rabbit in a treatment served as a replicate Feed and water were provided ad libitum. The experiment lasts for 8 weeks during feed intake and weight gain were recorded weekly during the experimental period.

Results: The results revealed that weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were significantly (P<0.05) affected by treatments. The highest average feed intake was observed in diet T₅ (20 % Mucuna utilis). Feed intake increased differently as the level of Mucuna utilis increased across the treatment. Result for carcass characteristics of showed no significant (P>0.05) difference in all the dietary treatments except for singed weight. Result for carcass by-products and visceral organs showed weight of liver, lungs, heart, kidney, spleen, gall bladder, oesophagus, stomach and both small and large intestines were no significant (P>0.05) difference across the treatment groups.

Conclusion: Rabbits can be fed with diets containing Mucuna utilis leaf meal up to 20% in their diets without any detrimental effect on the performance and carcass characteristic of Rabbits.

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