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Effect of Moringa Leaf Meal (Molm) on Nutrient Digestibility, Growth, Carcass and Blood Indices of Weaner Rabbits

A thesis submitted to the school of graduate studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Master of Science Degree in Animal Nutrition

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Main Author: Nuhu, Frederick
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: 2011
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access_status_str Open Access
author Nuhu, Frederick
author_browse Nuhu, Frederick
author_facet Nuhu, Frederick
author_sort Nuhu, Frederick
collection Thesis
description A thesis submitted to the school of graduate studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Master of Science Degree in Animal Nutrition
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id oai:ir.knust.edu.gh:123456789/337
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language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:31:21.331Z
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provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from KNUSTSpace — Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (Ghana)
publishDate 2011
publishDateRange 2011
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source_str KNUSTSpace — Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (Ghana)
spelling oai:ir.knust.edu.gh:123456789/337 Effect of Moringa Leaf Meal (Molm) on Nutrient Digestibility, Growth, Carcass and Blood Indices of Weaner Rabbits Nuhu, Frederick A thesis submitted to the school of graduate studies, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Master of Science Degree in Animal Nutrition The study involved the cultivation of moringa and the use of the moringa leaf meal (MOLM) to determine its effect on nutrient digestibility, growth, carcass characteristics and haematological and biochemical indices of weaner rabbits. Five (5) treatment diets were formulated to contain MOLM inclusion levels of 0% (control), 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%. Thirty (30) weaner rabbits of mixed breeds and sexes were used for the experiment. They were randomly divided into 5 groups of 6 animals per treatment with 2 animals per replicate, in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Feed and water were provided ad libitum. Data obtained from the moringa cultivation showed that on dry matter (DM) basis, 425.10 kg/ha of moringa leaves could be produced at first harvest at 90 days of age using a planting spacing of 1.3 × 1.3 m. Elemental analysis of the moringa leaf meal (MOLM) on DM basis indicated that the leaves contained 24.65% DM, 29.25% CP, 2.23% EE, 19.25% CF, 7.13% ash, 41.98% NFE, 0.33% P and 8.64% Ca. The dry matter (DM) and CP digestibility values were affected (p<0.05) by dietary treatments whilst the CF and EE digestibility values were not (p>0.05). The average daily feed intake and FCR did not differ between dietary treatments (p>0.05), however, the average daily weight gain was higher (p<0.05) in rabbits on the MOLM based-diets (13.49, 13.69, 14.03, 15.01 g/d) compared to those on the control diet (11.71 g/d). Except for meat crude protein and ether extract, which were influenced by dietary treatment (p<0.01), the carcass characteristics studied did not differ between treatments (p>0.05). All the blood parameters studied did not vary between treatments (p>0.05). The cost of feed to gain a kilogramme weight, although not significant (p>0.05), was highest when soyabean meal (SBM) was completely replaced with MOLM due solely to the large price disparities between MOLM and SBM. The study revealed that the MOLM is rich in nutrients. It also showed that the MOLM could be used as a partial or total replacement for SBM without any adverse effect on the productive performance and blood indices of weaner rabbits. 2011-07-15T11:17:39Z 2023-04-20T11:45:02Z 2011-07-15T11:17:39Z 2023-04-20T11:45:02Z 2010-07-15 Article https://ir.knust.edu.gh/handle/123456789/337 en application/pdf
spellingShingle Nuhu, Frederick
Effect of Moringa Leaf Meal (Molm) on Nutrient Digestibility, Growth, Carcass and Blood Indices of Weaner Rabbits
title Effect of Moringa Leaf Meal (Molm) on Nutrient Digestibility, Growth, Carcass and Blood Indices of Weaner Rabbits
title_full Effect of Moringa Leaf Meal (Molm) on Nutrient Digestibility, Growth, Carcass and Blood Indices of Weaner Rabbits
title_fullStr Effect of Moringa Leaf Meal (Molm) on Nutrient Digestibility, Growth, Carcass and Blood Indices of Weaner Rabbits
title_full_unstemmed Effect of Moringa Leaf Meal (Molm) on Nutrient Digestibility, Growth, Carcass and Blood Indices of Weaner Rabbits
title_short Effect of Moringa Leaf Meal (Molm) on Nutrient Digestibility, Growth, Carcass and Blood Indices of Weaner Rabbits
title_sort effect of moringa leaf meal molm on nutrient digestibility growth carcass and blood indices of weaner rabbits
url https://ir.knust.edu.gh/handle/123456789/337
work_keys_str_mv AT nuhufrederick effectofmoringaleafmealmolmonnutrientdigestibilitygrowthcarcassandbloodindicesofweanerrabbits