Efficacy of Albizia Lebbeck Seed Oil on the Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics of Weaner Rabbits

The efficacy of Albizia lebbeck seed oil (ALO) on the growth performance and carcass characteristics of weaner rabbits. Fifty (50) weaned rabbits of mixed breed and sexes, aged between 6-7 weeks with an average initial body weight of 460 ± 1.30 were randomly divided into five experimental groups. Each group was further subdivided into five replicates consisting of two rabbits each in a completely randomized design. The first group (T1) fed on basal diets without ALO (control diet). The other groups (T2), (T3), (T4) and (T5) were fed on basal diets supplemented with ALO at levels of 0.1 %, 0.2 %, 0.3 % and 0.4 % respectively. The experimental diets were fed for 10-weeks duration on which performance and carcass parameters were recorded. The result showed that rabbits in T5 given 0.4 % ALO had the highest weight gain (1472.0 g) followed by T4 (1418.1 g), T3 (1403.6), T2 (1400.8 g) and T1 (1192.3 g). Significant differences were also observed (P<0.05) among the treatment for feed intake and feed conversion ratio (FCR). Dressing percentage and organ weights of the animals were significantly (P<0.05) influenced by the dietary inclusion of ALO. The rabbits fed with the 0.4 % diet recorded significantly (P<0.05) highest dressing percentage (66.08 %), abdominal fat, kidney, thigh, loin and shoulder followed by 0.3% with 65.31 %, 0.2% (62.22 %), 0.1 % (59.60 %) and 0% with (57.30 %) dressing percentage respectively. The morality rate was significantly (P<0.05) affected by the dietary supplementation of ALO in rabbits diet. It was concluded that supplementation of ALO at 0.4% enhanced the overall performance and carcass quality of weaner rabbits.