Effect of dietary inclusion levels of mechanically extracted neem seed cake on performance of young rabbits

A feeding trial lasting 56 days was conducted using forty (40) weaned rabbits of mixed breeds with uncrage initial live weight of 669+20g to determine the effect of dietary inclusion levels of mechanically extracted neem seed cake on their performance and carcass characteristics. The animals were assigned lo five treatments based on their initial live weight and ser. There were eight individually caged rabbits per treatment. The diets were formulated to be isonitrogenous (20% CP). The control diet was based on maize and soybean meal. The neem seed cake was included at 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40% levels. Feed and wuler were offered ad libitum. Weekly feed intake and body weight changes were determined and feed efficiency calculated. At the end of the 56-day experiment, 5 rabbits per treatment were removed and slaughtered for carcass evaluation. The results showed that rabbits fed the 10 or 20% dietary levels of mechanically extracted neem seed cake hud growth performance and carcass characteristics that were statistically comparable (P>0.05) to those fed soybean meal (control) diet. Further increase in the dietary inclusion levels of the neem seed cake up to 30 or 40% resulted in significantly (P<0.05) depressed growth performance. The results favour the use of mechanically extracted neem seed cake in young rabbit diet up to the level of 20%.