Authors : Bouatene Djakalia, Bohoua Louis Guichard and Dabonne Soumaila
Abstract: This research was conducted to study the effect of Moringa oleifera on the growth performance and health status of young post-weaning rabbits. Three feeding supplements different in their composition were used: (Moringa supplement, mixed and the standard supplement). The Moringa supplement was added at 3% in the basic feed. The standard supplement used at 3% was made of 0.12% oxyboldine, 0.25% lysine, 0.1% methionine, 0.6% vitamin premix and 0.6% of dibasic calcium. The mixed supplement was composed of 1.5% Moringa supplement and 1.5% of the standard supplement. The performance of these 3 types of feeding formulation was measured on young post-weaning rabbits. The best results were obtained with Moringa supplement. The highest rabbits weight average was given by the Moringa supplement (820.62 g) followed by the mixed supplement (658.78) g and the standard supplement (632.75 g). The growth rates were 126.19, 69.85 and 68.66 g week-1, respectively for rabbits fed with Moringa, mixed and standard feeding formulations. The moringa supplement rabbit feeding formulation showed the highest apparent fecal digestibility (85%) compared to the mixed and standard feeding formulation that were respectively 80 and 81%. This index showed a high protein digestibility. However, the digestibility of different fiber components such as Acid Detergent Fiber (ADF) and Neutral Detergent Fiber (NDF) were low regardless the feeding formulation used. In terms of mortality, the mixed feeding formulation gave the highest mortality rate (12%) compared to the moringa and the standard fed rabbit groups (4%). No difference was observed in the feed consumption index.
Bouatene Djakalia, Bohoua Louis Guichard and Dabonne Soumaila, 2011. Effect of Moringa oleifera on Growth Performance and Health Status of Young Post-Weaning Rabbits. Research Journal of Poultry Sciences, 4: 7-13.