Biochemical, Haematclogical And Nutritional Evaluation Of Raw And Toasted Bambara Groundnut Byproduct Using Rabbits

ABSTRACT

The effects of raw and toasted Bambara groundnut by-product was assessed on weight for weight replacement of soyabean meal in -rabbit diet using growth performance carcas quality; blood chemistry and haematological parameters and economic analysis. A total of 4 rabbits of mixed breeds and sexes(which were evenly distributed); aged between 7-8 weeks an with an initial average body weight of 925 grams were randomly assigned to eight dietary treatment groups o-f six rabbits per treatment using 2 x 4 Factorial in a Completely Randomized Design: The dietary treatments were formulated such that raw and toasted Bambara groundnut by-product quantitatively replaced soyabean meal at levels of 0, 5, 10 and 15 respectively. Results showed that the raw Barnbara groundnut by-product had higher crude protein (20.66) and crude fibre (15.04) than the toasted (19.00 and 14.25) respectively. There was no significant (P>0.05) effect of raw and toasted on the growth parameters of rabbits. Expect on the average gains, where the toasted proved better. At 5% level of inclusion, the raw and toasted were better than other levels (10 and 1 5) on the growth and economic analysis. And there were no significant (P>0.05) effect of raw and toasted and their levels of inclusion (0, 5, 10, 15) on the carcass quality, blood chemistry and haematological parameters of rabbits.