Effect of Feeding Raw and Differently Processed Kapok (Ceiba pentandra) Seed Meal on the Growth Performance and Carcass characteristics of Weaner Rabbits

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine the effect of feeding raw and differently processed kapok seed meal on the
growth performance, carcass characteristics, internal organ weights and blood profile of weaner rabbits. Forty
eight weaner rabbits were randomly assigned to six dietary treatments containing 0% kapok seed meal (T1),
10% RKSM (T2), 10% CKSM (T3), 10% TKSM (T4), 10% FKSM (T5) and 10% SKSM (T6) in a completely
randomized design. Each treatment group had 8 rabbits replicated four times with 2 rabbits per replicate. The
proximate composition of raw and differently processed kapok seed meal showed that crude protein contents
ranged between 22.59±0.04 - 34.82±0.11%, while the crude fibre values varied between 9.28±0.89 -
17.45±0.06%. Cooked and fermented kapok seed meal had significantly (P <0.05) higher metabolisable energy
content than raw and other processed kapok seed meals. Cooked kapok seed meal had lower values in all antinutritional factors, with trypsin inhibitor completely deactivated by cooking, fermenting and toasting. The result
of the growth performance showed that final body weight and total feed intake of rabbits in control diet and
CKSM were significantly (P<0.05) higher than that of rabbits in RKSM, FKSM, TKSM and SKSM groups.
Rabbits on RKSM had the lowest final body weight gain, total feed intake, daily weight gain, average daily feed
intake and poor feed conversion ratio (FCR) values compared to the processed kapok seed meal group. FCR
ranged from 3.92±0.92 in CKSM to 4.70±0.31 in RKSM diets. Rabbits fed CKSM showed significantly (P<0.05)
better FCR. Differences (P<0.05) were found in carcass, dressed, liver, liver, lungs, kidney weights. It was
concluded that rabbits fed diets containing cooked kapok seed meal had the best growth performance and
carcass characteristics. It could be suggested that cooking was the most efficient processing method in reducing
anti-nutritional factors in kapok seed.