| Livestock Research for Rural Development 20 (supplement) 2008 | Guide for preparation of papers | LRRD News | Citation of this paper |
Seventy-two weaned rabbits, crossbreds between New Zealand White and the native breed, with an initial live weight of 731 g were distributed to four farmers, 18 rabbits to each farmer, in the Chiang Mai area. The rabbits on each farm were randomly assigned to three treatments according to a Randomized Complete Block Design with farms as block. The treatments were diets with three different foliages, Ruzi grass, head lettuce residue and Mimosa pigra. All rabbits were fed a basal diet of a commercial concentrate at 2% dry matter (DM) of body weight (BW)
There were differences (P<0.001) in total feed DM intake and also in intake of foliages and concentrate. Feed intake was significantly lower for the rabbits offered Ruzi grass than for the other treatments. The finishing weight and daily gain during the thirteen weeks of the experiment were significantly higher for head lettuce residue and Mimosa pigra than for Ruzi grass. The finishing weight was 2.501 kg, 2.488 kg and 2.177 kg and the daily gain 19.4 g, 19.2 g and 15.9 g for the head lettuce residue, Mimosa pigra and Ruzi grass, respectively. Feed conversion ratio was lowest for the head lettuce residue diet, significantly lower than for Ruzi grass and Mimosa pigra (P<0.001).
The highest net profit per kg live weight was obtained when feeding head lettuce residue, 40 Baht/kg BW, compared to 39 Baht and 36 Baht/kg BW when feeding Mimosa pigra and Ruzi grass, respectively.
Keywords: Concentrates, local resources
At the present time rabbit raising is an important activity for farmers in the mountainous area in the northern part of Thailand. People belonging to the hill tribes, mostly smallholder farmers, live in this upland area, and work with agriculture in integrated farming systems such as cropping of rice, vegetables and fruit trees combined with raising of livestock. The livestock activities are usually small scale or backyard raising, based on smallholder status and land holding. Livestock raising serves as the family food security and assistance in mixed farming, and also as an insurance in case of crop failure and as a family saving (Devendra and Chantalakhana 2002 cited by Chantalakhana et al. 2005).
Rabbits are suitable for smallholder farmers to be raised in small scale or backyard systems for subsistence with low level inputs (Lukefahr and Cheeke 1990; Phimmasan 2005). The hill farmers could probably produce rabbit meat with low production costs, but in fact have been raising rabbits with high feed costs. Their practice has been to feed the rabbits low quality forages, natural or improved grasses, and commercial concentrates in large amounts. This has led to high feed costs and no net profit. To solve the problem the rabbit feed should be improved by replacing the grass with foliages with higher protein content that can be found easily in the area. Devendra (1988) reported that the foliages are sources of dietary protein and can provide variety in the diet for improved growth performance and reduced feed costs.
The head lettuce (Lactuca sativa) residue, the waste of the grading process, has become a pollution problem in the mountains because the waste is dumped as garbage. Head lettuce has a high protein content of about 350 g/kg DM (Wikipedia 2007) but also a very high water content.
Mimosa pigra is a kind of weed that is spread by seeds over many areas in South East Asia, and can be found in mountainous areas, especially in river banks and other wet areas. Vearasilp et al (1981) reported a potential use of mimosa as a livestock feed resource with relatively high protein content, 200 g crude protein (CP)/kg dry matter (DM). There were no negative effects reported in tests run on this thorny plant in Thailand (FAO 1997). However, there is really no data on the appropriate use of mimosa as a feed for rabbits.
The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of feeding head lettuce (Lactuca sativa) residue and Mimosa pigra compared to the roughage normally fed by farmers, e.g. Ruzi grass, on growth performance, feed intake, production costs and net benefit in rabbits raised on-farm.
The experiment was carried out at 4 farms belonging to 2 centres of the Royal Project Foundation, Chiang Mai, Thailand about 140 kilometres from the city. Three of the farms belong to the Khun Phae Development Centre and the last farm to the Wat Chan Development Centre. The altitude of the areas where the farms are situated is about 1,000 m above sea level. The climate is tropical monsoon, with a wet season from May to October and a dry season from November to April. Average rainfall during the experiment was around 1,220 mm and the highest mean temperature was 27oC and the lowest mean temperature 14oC. The experiment started in October 2006 and finished in January 2007.
The animals used in the experiment were weaned rabbits of about 6 to 7 weeks of age and with an average body weight (BW) of 731 (SD=17.4) g. The experimental rabbits were crossbreds between native rabbits and New Zealand White. There were 72 animals in total, and 18 rabbits were allotted to each farm with no regard to sex. The rabbits were confined to individual cages made from metal net and bamboo with the size 90x90x60 cm. Before the start of the experiment the rabbits were dewormed using Ivermectin injection, 0.1 ml/kg BW.
As the basal diet in the growth experiment a commercial feed for growing pigs from 30 kg to 60 kg was used. The CP content was about 160 g/kg DM. Major ingredients in the commercial concentrate feed were maize and rice bran as energy sources and soybean meal and fishmeal as protein sources. The concentrate was fed at a level of 2% (in DM) of BW. The concentrate was bought from the feed shop in the city.
The foliages used in the experiment were Ruzi grass, head lettuce residue and Mimosa pigra. Head lettuce residue was collected every day from the grading house at the Royal Project development centres, which are in the same area as the farms. Before being offered the head lettuce residue was air dried for 10 to 12 hours. Mimosa pigra was collected from the fields near the river bank and cut approximately 15 cm from top (leaves and stem included) and the leaves from the part >15 cm from the top were also included. Ruzi grass was available in the area around the farms. Mimosa pigra and Ruzi grass were harvested once per day at about 17.00 h.
The foliages were hung in the cage and offered ad libitum at a level of 120% of the average individual intake the previous week. Clean water was available at all times.
The foliages were fed twice daily at about 7.00 h and 16.00 h, with 50% of the feed offered at each occasion. The concentrate was offered once daily in the morning.
The experimental design of the growth experiment was a RCBD. The experiment had 3 treatments and 4 blocks (farms). There were 6 rabbits in each treatment.
The treatments were:
The rabbits in the growth experiment were weighed at the beginning of the experiment and then every 7 days, always in the morning before feeding. Feed offered and refused was weighed every day to calculate feed intake and determine feed conversion ratio from DM intake. The feeds and feed residues were sampled every day for analysis of the chemical composition by proximate analysis, for dry matter (DM), ash, N and crude fiber (CF) according to AOAC (2000). Foliages in the field were sampled every week for analysis DM. The feed samples were collected by the farmers or the research assistant.
The data were analysed using the ANOVA GLM option of the Minitab version 14.12 (2004) software. Sources of variation were treatment (different foliages), block (different farms) and error. The means were compared using Tukey's pairwise comparison test. The statistical model for the growth experiment was:
Yij = m + Ti + Bj + eij where Ti= treatment, Bj= block and eij=random error.
Economic analyses was done using current prices in Baht (B) to calculate the production cost based on total income and total expenses (concentrate and animals).
The chemical characteristics of the experimental feeds are shown in Table 1. Mimosa pigra had a high protein and fiber content, 179 g and 241 g/kg DM, respectively. Head lettuce had also a high protein content but very low DM content and Ruzi grass had a high fiber content.
| Table 1. Chemical composition of the experimental feeds (means and SD) | ||||
|
|
Ruzi grass |
Head lettuce |
Mimosa pigra |
Concentrate |
|
Number of samples |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
|
DM, g/kg |
175(7.9) |
39(3.2) |
375(13.2) |
907(3.2) |
|
In g/kg DM |
|
|
|
|
|
OM |
901(1.5) |
878(4.9) |
918(2.6) |
903(2.4) |
|
Ash |
99(1.5) |
122(4.9) |
82(2.6) |
97(2.4) |
|
CP |
81(2.4) |
208(7.2) |
179(2.1) |
146(0.5) |
|
CF |
277(9.7) |
123(5.1) |
241(3.9) |
58(2.0) |
Total DM intake, and intake of foliages and concentrate were significantly different among the treatments (P<0.001) (Table 2). The highest total DM intake was from the Mimosa pigra diet compared to the head lettuce residue and Ruzi grass diets, 100 g, 90 g and 78 g/day, respectively.
|
Table 2. Feed intakes of rabbits fed different foliages ad libitum and concentrate at 2% DM of BW. |
|||||
|
|
Treatments |
|
|
||
|
|
RG |
HL |
MP |
SE |
Prob. |
|
Feed intake, g DM/day |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Foliages |
51a |
58b |
69c |
0.7 |
*** |
|
Concentrate |
27a |
32b |
31b |
0.3 |
*** |
|
DM intake total, g/day |
78a |
90b |
100c |
0.9 |
*** |
|
DM intake, g/kg BW |
58a |
58a |
67b |
0.4 |
*** |
|
DM intake foliage/concentrate |
1.9a |
1.8a |
2.2b |
0.02 |
*** |
|
DM intake protein, g/day |
8a |
17b |
17b |
0.3 |
*** |
|
DM intake protein, foliage/concentrate |
1.1a |
2.6b |
2.7b |
0.1 |
*** |
|
DM intake fiber, g/day |
16a |
9b |
18c |
0.2 |
*** |
|
DM intake fiber, foliage/concentrate |
9.3a |
4.1b |
10.0c |
0.1 |
*** |
|
a,b,c
Means within a row with
different superscripts are significantly different (P<0.05);
|
|||||
Protein and fiber intakes were significantly higher in the Mimosa pigra diet than in the head lettuce residue and Ruzi grass diet (P<0.001). The live weight at the start and at the end of the experiment, daily gain and feed conversion ratio are presented in Table 3.
|
Table 3. Performance of growing rabbits fed different foliages ad libitum and concentrate at 2% DM of BW |
|||||
|
|
Treatments |
SE |
Prob |
||
|
|
RG |
HL |
MP |
||
|
Live weight, g |
|||||
|
Initial |
724 |
731 |
739 |
8.3 |
NS |
|
4 weeks |
1,205a |
1,415b |
1,362b |
15.6 |
*** |
|
8 weeks |
1,640a |
1,906b |
1,889b |
14.4 |
*** |
|
Finish (13 weeks) |
2,177a |
2,501b |
2,488b |
18.2 |
*** |
|
Daily gain, g |
|||||
|
0-6 weeks |
16.6a |
23.3b |
21.4c |
0.1 |
*** |
|
7-13 weeks |
15.4a |
16.2a |
17.4b |
0.2 |
*** |
|
0-13 weeks |
15.9a |
19.4b |
19.2b |
0.1 |
*** |
|
FCR, g DM intake/g live weight gain |
|||||
|
0-6 weeks |
3.8a |
3.2b |
4.0a |
0.05 |
*** |
|
7-13 weeks |
6.0a |
6.4b |
6.7c |
0.06 |
*** |
|
0-13 weeks |
4.9a |
4.6b |
5.2c |
0.07 |
*** |
|
,b,c
Means within a row with
different superscripts are different (P<0.05);
|
|||||
There were no significant differences between the diets including Mimosa pigra or head lettuce residue in relation to finishing weight and daily gain but these two diets resulted in significantly higher values compared to the Ruzi grass diet (P<0.001). The head lettuce residue diet had the lowest feed conversion ratio, significantly lower than Ruzi grass and Mimosa pigra, 4.6 g, 4.9 g and 5.2 g DM/g BW gain, respectively.
The economic analysis presented in Table 4 indicates that the diets with head lettuce residue and Mimosa pigra gave the highest net profit per rabbit, higher than the Ruzi grass diet, 99 Baht, 98 Baht and 79 Baht/rabbit, respectively.
|
Table 4. Economic analysis of the effect of using head lettuce residue and Mimosa pigra compared to Ruzi grass, with concentrate at 2% DM of BW as the basal diet # |
|||
|
|
Treatment |
||
|
Ruzi grass |
Head lettuce |
Mimosa pigra |
|
|
Feed cost |
|
|
|
|
Foliages |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
Concentrate (14.9B/kg DM) |
37 |
43 |
42 |
|
Animals cost (80B/kg BW) |
58 |
58 |
59 |
|
Total expenses per head |
95 |
101 |
101 |
|
Total expenses per kg BW |
44 |
41 |
41 |
|
Total income (80B/kg BW) |
174 |
200 |
199 |
|
Net profit |
|
|
|
|
Total net profit per head |
79 |
99 |
98 |
|
Net profit per kg BW |
36 |
40 |
39 |
|
# Economic cost compared at 91 days of raising. All figures expressed in B=Baht; 35 Baht=1USD |
|||
The expenses were
feed cost and costs for animals. Labour costs were not included in
this study. The feed cost consisted only of the commercial
concentrate, because the foliages did not cost anything. Total
expenses of the head lettuce residue and Mimosa pigra diets
were higher than for Ruzi grass diet, 101 Baht, 101 Baht and 95
Baht/head, respectively. However the production cost/kg BW was
lower for the head lettuce residue and Mimosa pigra than for
Ruzi grass. The net profit per kg BW was highest for head lettuce
residue compared to Mimosa pigra and Ruzi grass, about 40
Baht, 39 Baht and 36 Baht/kg BW, respectively.
Head lettuce residue and Mimosa pigra had high protein content and Ruzi grass low CP content. The disadvantage of the head lettuce residue was the high water and the low fiber contents about 96% moisture and 123 g crude fiber/kg DM. Ngu (2001) also found that vegetable wastes had high CP but low DM and fiber content.
The Ruzi grass had lower intake than head lettuce residue and Mimosa pigra. The Ruzi grass seemed to have lower palatability compared to the two foliages. According to Lin et al. (2003) the DM intake of goats fed grass (Ruzi and Guinea grass) was lower than for goats fed forages (Jackfruit, cassava and Leucaena) and the growth rate was also lowest for the goats offered grass. Lukefahr and Cheeke (1990) found that most grasses were less palatable than legumes. The lower concentrate consumption in the Ruzi grass diet is a consequence of the fact that the rabbits offered Ruzi grass had a lower weight gain and BW and concentrate was offered at 2% DM of BW.
Offering the head lettuce residue and Mimosa pigra diets resulted in higher daily gain than for the Ruzi grass diet due to higher DM and protein intake. Compared to Phimmasan (2005), who also offered rabbits grass and legumes the FCR of Mimosa pigra in this study and Stylo 184 were similar but the FCR for the grasses were very different for Ruzi grass 4.9 g DM/g BW gain compared to Guinea and native grass, 8.2 g and 6.8 g DM/g BW gain, respectively.
The production costs of all treatments were low because the main feed cost, for the concentrate, was limited and the foliages did not cost anything. Ogle (2006) reported that forages are inexpensive, leading to increased profitability and sustainability. When using agro-industrial by-products, market waste and forages such as soya waste, brewery waste, shrimp by-product, fruit and vegetable waste, water spinach and cassava leaf etc as replacement for concentrate or as supplement to the feed, the feed cost are generally reduced and the profit increased when the experimental animals were poultry (Men et al. 2001; Dong and Ogle 2003), pigs (Ngoan et al 2001; Ly 2006), rabbits (Dong et al. 2006) or ruminants (Ngu 2001). This study did not include labour in the production cost, which if included may change the relative net profit.
The positive results when using head lettuce residue or Mimosa pigra as rabbit feeds was confirmed in this on-farm trial. The growth performance and profit indicated that both these foliages gave a better result than Ruzi grass.
Head lettuce residue and Mimosa pigra can be fed to rabbits in on-farm conditions and result in good growth performance and higher net profit than when feeding Ruzi grass.
These results can be introduced to the farmers to encourage them to replace or supplement Ruzi grass to improve growth rate and production of rabbits.
Thanks are extended to the Swedish International Development Agency/Cooperation with Developing Countries (Sida/SAREC) for funding this thesis research. We would like to thank the director of Khunpae and Watchan Development Centre who allowed the on-farm research to be conducted in their area of responsibility. Thanks are also due to the staff and farmers of the Development Centre for their valuable help.
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