Nutritional Value of Palm Kernel Cake Supplemented with or Without Probiotics to Replace Groundnut Cake in the Diets of Weaner Rabbits

Forty-five; 4 weeks old weaner crossbred rabbits of mixed sex, were used to investigate the effect of replacing palm kernel cake for groundnut cake with or without probiotics supplementation in the diets of weaner rabbits. Dietary GNC was replaced with PKC at 3 levels ( 0, 30 and 60%) with 3 supplementation levels (No supplement added, Probiotic A and Probiotic B) using 3 X 3 factorial of completely randomize design. The experiment lasted for a period of eight (8) weeks. The result showed that, increase in the inclusion levels of PKC had significant effect (P < 0.05) on all growth parameters except feed intake. Significant effect (P < 0.05) was recorded on nitrogen digestibility but non-significant effect (P > 0.05) on nitrogen balance. The cost of feed and feed cost efficiency showed significant effect (P < 0.05) as the level of PKC increased from 0 to 6%. There were significant effect (P < 0.05) of supplementation on the weight gain and feed to gain ratio but showed non significant effect (P > 0.05) on the feed intake. In terms of supplementation, the result showed that there were significant effect (P < 0.05) of supplementation on nitrogen balance and nitrogen digestibility. However, the cost implication on supplementation had significant effect (p < 0.05) on the cost efficiency, but had non significant (P > 0.05) on the cost feed. There were significant (P < 0.05) interaction between the varying levels of PKC and supplements on feed intake, rate of weight gain and feed to gain ratio. In terms of digestibility, the result showed significant difference (P < 0.05) between the digestibility parameters except nitrogen intake which showed non significant effect (P > 0.05). All financial implication parameters showed significant (P < 0.05) interaction between the level of replacement and supplementation except on the cost of feed. The result showed that, the inclusion level of 60% PRG diet with probiotics is the best replacement level of GNC when compared to 30% PRG diet in terms of growth and performance and digestibility parameters.