Effects of replacing maize with cassava whey meal in the diets of rabbits

A sixty-day feeding experiment was conducted to study the effect of diets containing different replacement levels of cassava whey meal (CWM) on growth performance, blood profile and carcass characteristics of rabbits. The maize portion of the diets was replaced with the CWM at 0% (Control), 50% (CWM-50%), 75% (CWM-75%) and 100% (CWM-100%). Fifty-six weaner rabbits of mixed breeds and sexes with an average initial live weight of 0.7 kg were randomly allocated to the four diets based on sex and live weight in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD). There were fourteen rabbits per treatment and each animal served as a replicate. Each rabbit was offered a daily allowance of 0.4 kg of the required diet and water was provided ad libitum throughout the period of the experiment. The results of the experiment showed that the feed intake was similar (p >0.05) among the different dietary treatments. Rabbits fed the CWM-100% diet recorded the highest weight gain (p <0.05) compared to those offered the CWM-50% and CWM75% diets. The feed to gain ratio recorded for the rabbits fed the CWM-100% diet was similar to those given the Control and CWM-50% diets but substantially (p <0.05) better than the rabbits offered CWM-75% diet. The blood profile parameters and carcass characteristics were similar (p >0.05) across the various treatments. Therefore, it was concluded that cassava whey meal can be used to replace maize in the diets of rabbits.