GROWTH PERFORMANCE, NUTRIENT DIGESTIBILITY AND CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS OF GROWING RABBITS FED CASHEW APPLE WASTE

Abstract

The nutritve value of dried cashew apple waste (CAW) was investigated in this study. A basal (control) diet was formulated to meet requirements of growing rabbits and three other diets were formulated by substituti ng 10, 20 and 30% of the basal diet with CAW. Thirty six 6-week old rabbits were fed these diets and growth perf ormance was recorded. Faecal apparent digestibility of nutr ients was measured in 12 rabbits. Rabbits fed diets with 20 and 30 % CAW gained weight (P 0.05) in the blood metabolites except cholesterol l evel which increased (P< 0.05) with CAW inclusion in the diets. Inclusion of CAW also increased (P< 0.05) th e relative weights of kidney, liver and carcass cut parts. It is inferred that dried CAW can be included in gr owing rabbit diets up to 30% of the dry matter.