Feeds and forages fed to rabbits in the Coastal savannah ecological Zone of Ghana

2019

English

A survey was undertaken in the Coastal Savannah ecological zone of Ghana to solicit information from 132 rabbit keepers on rabbit feeds and feeding with emphasis on forages. The main feed sources for the rabbits were commercial poultry and rabbit feed, on-farm prepared feed and for-age. About half the rabbitries used on-farm prepared feed, comprising cereal brans, oyster shell, fishmeal, soymeal and groundnut haulm as the main ingredients, purposely to cut down on feed cost while aiming at achieving balanced diets. Plants providing forages as rabbit feed comprised six trees, eight forbs, five shrubs and three graminoids. Some forages, though readily available during the rainy season, were scarce in the dry season. The four highest ranked forages in terms of availability and perceived acceptability to rabbits were Brassica oleracea, Stylosanthes guianen-sis, Musa paradisiaca and Panicum maximum for forbs, shrubs, trees and graminoids respectively. Half of the rabbitries fed chopped forages directly to rabbits without any further processing, while the rest washed, wilted or salted forages before feeding. Basic processing of forages such as wilt-ing is necessary prior to feeding, particularly for leguminous forages, to reduce or eliminate some anti-nutrients that may be present and could be detrimental to the health of the animals. The in-take of the identified forages by rabbits in the zone in acceptable quantities suggests that forages could be used successfully in feed or as supplements for rabbit production

Osei, D. Y.; Apori, S. O.; Hagan, J. K.; Asiedu, P.