Volume: 55 Issue: 1
Year: 2024, Page: 103-110, Doi: https://doi.org/10.51966/jvas.2024.55.1.103-110
Received: Oct. 5, 2023 Accepted: Dec. 15, 2023 Published: March 31, 2024
A study was carried out for a period of 4 months to evaluate the effect of dietary inclusion of garden cress (GC) seeds on growth performance and nutrient digestibility in New Zealand White rabbits. Eighteen New Zealand White female rabbits of four months of age were selected and were divided into three groups of six animals each based on age and body weight. The animals were randomly allotted to three dietary treatments, T1 (control diet with 18 per cent CP and 2700 kcal DE), T2 (concentrate with 5 per cent GC seed on dry matter basis) and T3 (concentrate with 7.5 per cent GC seed on dry matter basis). Data analysis revealed that the growth performance and nutrient digestibility of dry matter, crude protein and ether extract were similar among treatment groups. Furthermore, dietary treatments had no effect on blood biochemical parameters. From the overall results, it can be concluded that GC seeds can be safely incorporated up to 7.5 per cent in rabbit diet without compromising the health status and growth performance in New Zealand White rabbits.
Keywords: Digestibility, garden cress seeds, growth, rabbits
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© 2024 Nayana et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Nayana, K., Purushothaman, S., Ally, K., Dipu, M.T. and Thomas, M. 2024. Effect of feeding garden cress (Lepidium sativum) seeds on growth performance and nutrient digestibility in New Zealand White rabbits. J. Vet. Anim. Sci. 55(1):103-110
DOI: https://doi.org/10.51966/jvas.2024.55.1.103-110