EFFECTS OF DIETARY SUBSTITUTION WITH GUAR KORMA MEAL (Cyamposis tetragonoloba) ON PRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE, NUTRIENTS DIGESTIBILITY, CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS AND HEMATOLOGICAL BLOOD PICTURE OF GROWING RABBITS

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding guar korma meal (GKM) as a partial replacement of soybean meal (SBM) on growth performance, nutrients digestibility coefficients, carcass characteristics and hematological blood parameters of growing rabbits. Two hundred and twenty-five New Zealand White rabbits about 6 weeks of age with 538g average body weight were randomly divided into five dietary groups with three replicates per each (15 rabbits). Rabbit were fed on diets containing none, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5, 10.0% GKM, respectively. Diets were formulated to be nearly isocaloric and iso-nitrogenous. Final weight and average daily gain of rabbits were significantly decreased with increasing the level of GKM to 7.5 and 10.0%, while feed intake and feed conversion ratio were not significantly affected. Also, increasing dietary GKM level beyond 5.0% of the diets resulted in significant further decreases in DM, OM, CP, CF and NDF digestibility coefficients and in the nutritive values of the diets in terms of digestible CP (DCP) and total digestible nutrients (TDN). Moreover, 5.0% GKM in the diet significantly improved carcass weight and dressing percentage. Hemoglobin, RBC's and WBC's were significantly higher in GKM groups compared to the control. Conclusively, it is concluded that GKM can be included in growing rabbit diets at level 5.0% without adverse effects on growth performance, nutrients digestibility coefficients, carcass traits and hematological blood picture.