Carcass Characteristics and Serum Biochemistry of Rabbits Fed Diets Containing Differently Processed Kidney Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) Seed Meal

Abstract

The effect of feeding grower rabbits with differently processed kidney bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) seed meal was determined during a forty-two (42) days feeding trial. Six diets were compounded to contain 15% crude protein and 2300kcal/kg of metabolizable energy. Thirty (30) grower rabbits of mixed breeds and sexes were obtained from National Animal Production Research Institute (NAPRI), Zaria. The rabbits were allocated to 6 dietary treatments of five (5) rabbits per treatment with one (1) rabbit per replicate in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The experimental diets were; T1 without kidney bean seed meal (control), while diets T2, T3, T4, T5 and T6 contained raw, cooked, soaked, fermented and sprouted kidney bean seed meal respectively. Feed and water were given ad-libitum during the

period of the experiment. Parameters measured were carcass characteristics and serum biochemistry of the animals. Carcass cut up parts were significantly (P<0.05) affected except the dressed weight, fore-limb length, hind-limb weight, shank length, thorax weight, lumbar weight and dressing percentage. The result of the carcass characteristics showed that animal fed fermented diet (T5) kidney bean seed meal had the highest slaughtered weight followed by those fed the cooked (T3) and sprouted (T6) diets. The serum biochemistry indices of all parameters showed no significant (P>0.05) difference except total cholesterol and glucose levels. The total cholesterol and glucose levels of the animals fed raw kidney bean seed meal are significantly higher than others. Different processing methods of kidney beans seed meal were observed not to have effect on the carcass characteristics and serum biochemistry of the rabbits.