Feed Wastage Management in Rabbit Production using Different Feeders

Aims: This study was carried out to reduce the wastage caused by pawing effects of rabbits by introducing different feeder types.

Study Design: Completely Randomized Design

Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out at Hephzibah and Beulah Farms, Ibadan, Nigeria between September 2018 and October 2018 (4 weeks).

Methodology: 36 rabbits in 1:2 ratio of growers to weaners respectively, were allocated to 3 different feeder types: Open Mouth Feeder (OMF), Tin Feeders (TF) and Hollow Mouth Feeders (HMF) in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The rabbits were fed a formulated diet in ration of 120g/day for the first 3 weeks of the experiment and 150g/day for the last week of the experiment, while water was supplied ad-libitum throughout the experiment.

Results: In the weaner rabbits, the results showed that although there was no significant difference (p>0.05) in the Weight Gain and FCR across the 3 treatments throughout the experiment, Feed Intake and Feed wastage, varied statistically in the first week and numerically in subsequent weeks, the intake and wastage were highest and lowest respectively for rabbits fed with OMF type. For the grower rabbits: feed intake was significantly higher (p<0.05) with rabbits fed with the TF types across the last 3 weeks of the experiment, concurrently, feed wastage was significantly lower (P<0.05) with rabbits fed with the TF types across the last 3 weeks of the experiment. Weight gain and FCR on the other hand were not significantly different (p>0.05) across the 3 treatments for the four weeks of the experiment.

Conclusion: It was concluded that HMF encourage feed wastage in rabbit production, and as a replacement, OMF should be encouraged for weaner rabbits while TF is ideal for the grower rabbits.