EFFECTS OF FEEDING BANANA PEELS MEAL ON THE PERFORMANCE OF WEANED RABBITS

Abstract

The study was carried out at the Teaching and Research Farms Federal College of Education,
Yola Adamawa State Nigeria to determine the performance of weaned rabbits fed graded
inclusion levels of banana peels meal (BPM) diets. Thirty-six (36) weaned rabbits aged
between 5-7 weeks, with an initial weight of 624.24 to 682.54g were used, daily feed intake
ranged from 48.66 to 52.53g, daily weight gains 6.33 to 7.95g final weight gain was 1156.12
to 1299.57g, and feed conversion ratio 6.36 to 7.97.Four treatments feeding trial (T1, T2, T3
and T4) was subjected to a completely randomized design (CRD) with different inclusion
levels of banana peels at 0, 10, 20 and 30%, respectively. The highest weight gain was
recorded in diet T4. This implied that the inclusion levels of banana peels in the diets have no
allergic effect on the Rabbits. The study concluded that 30% of banana peels can be
incorporated by farmers as one of the alternatives feeds substitute for maize in the diet of
rabbit so as to reduce the total costs of feeds.