Feeding of Lablab purpureus forage with molasses blocks or sugar cane stalks to rabbit fryers in subtropical south Texas

Feeding of Lablab purpureus forage with molasses blocks or sugar cane stalks to rabbit fryers in subtropical south Texas

In the lesser-developed countries, pelleted commercial feeds for rabbits are generally not available or are cost prohibitive to most farmers. The development of high quality, forage-based diets with simple supplements is a high priority research area. A 35-day feeding experiment was conducted involv...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Livestock production science Vol. 80; no. 3; pp. 201 - 209
Main Authors: Linga, S.S, Lukefahr, S.D, Lukefahr, M.J
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier B.V 2003
Subjects:
body weight
carcass yield
crude protein
detergents
diet
energy
farmers
feeds
forage
Growth
hay
Lablab purpureus
laboratory animals
livestock production
molasses
Rabbit
rabbits
Sugar cane
sugarcane
Supplementation
Tropical forages
Texas
Rabbit
Sugar cane
Supplementation
Growth
Tropical forages
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Summary:In the lesser-developed countries, pelleted commercial feeds for rabbits are generally not available or are cost prohibitive to most farmers. The development of high quality, forage-based diets with simple supplements is a high priority research area. A 35-day feeding experiment was conducted involving 60 rabbit fryers to evaluate lablab forage (fresh or hay) in combination with an energy supplement (molasses blocks or sugar cane). Control animals received a commercial pelleted diet. Four pens replicated each of the five diets, and each pen contained three fryers. Lablab DM was composed of approximately 20% crude protein, 25% neutral and 21% acid detergent fibers, and 12.0% ash. As expected, controls had heavier final body weights by 580 g and more rapid growth by 15.6 g/day than rabbits fed experimental lablab diets ( P<0.01). Rabbits receiving fresh lablab versus lablab hay had similar growth rates ( P>0.05), but rabbits receiving molasses blocks instead of sugar cane had better growth by 3.8 g/day ( P<0.05). Controls consumed more feed in dry matter and had better feed-to-gain conversion than experimental animals ( P<0.01). Rabbits fed fresh lablab versus lablab hay had better carcass yield (56.3 and 52.3%) because of lower non-emptied GIT weights (19.4 vs. 22.7%; P<0.01). Rabbits receiving molasses blocks instead of sugar cane had 3.1% lower carcass yield and 3.2% higher non-emptied GIT weights ( P<0.01). Local research trials should be conducted before subsistence farmers adopt lablab forage-based diets with molasses blocks or sugar cane.
Bibliography:http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0301-6226(02)00189-6
ISSN:0301-6226
1872-6070
DOI:10.1016/S0301-6226(02)00189-6