Abstract

A ten-week feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effect of camel blood-rumen content mixture (CBRCM) on the nutrient digestibility and carcass measurement of cross-bred (Dutch x New Zealand) growing rabbits aged between five and seven weeks. Forty five rabbits were randomly allocated to five dietary treatments of nine per treatment in a complete randomized block design experiment. The CBRCM was included at 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40% levels in diets 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively. The response showed that the digestibility of dry matter, crude protein, crude fibre, ether extract and Total ash were significantly affected (P<0.05) by the test material in the diets but only nitrogen-free extract (NFE) digestibility was not significantly affected (P>0.05) by the test material in the diets. The slaughter weight, dressed weight, dressing percentage, rack, thighs, head, tail, skin, feet, heart, lungs, kidneys, caecum, large intestine, small intestine, stomach and body length were not significantly (P>0.05) different among the treatment groups. The shoulder, loin and liver were significantly (P<0.05) different amongst the treatment groups. The study indicated that CBRCM can be included in rabbit diet up to 40% inclusion level.      

Key words: Growing rabbits, camel blood-rumen content mixture, nutrient digestibility, carcass characteristics.