Economics of soviet chinchilla rabbits under different feeding regimes
Abstract
The study was conducted to assess the performance of Soviet Chinchilla rabbits under different feeding regimes at Livestock Farm Complex, Madhavaram milk colony, Chennai-51. A total number of thirty Soviet Chinchilla weaned bunnies were divided into three groups vizT1: (Concentrate diet + Guinea grass), T2: (Concentrate diet + Hydroponic maize) and T3: (Concentrate diet + Hydroponic cowpea). All the animals were reared in cages under similar management conditions. Data on microclimatic variables, body weight, average daily body weight gain, average dry matter intake, feed conversion ratio, cost of fodder production, cost of rabbit production/kg live weight gain, were collected. Rabbits under T2 had numerically higher body weight than T1 and T3. The overall weight gain (g) in T1, T2 and T3 were 1333.10±54.84, 1673.80±83.82 and 1390.60±62.95, respectively. The rabbit fed hydroponic maize had significantly higher body weight gain than those were fed with hydroponic cowpea and guinea grass. The overall feed conversion ratio in T1, T2 and T3 were 9.64, 6.12 and 5.97 where better feed conversion ratio was observed in hydroponic fodder fed groups (T2 and T3). The total cost incurred towards feeding of rabbits during the experimental period was least in T1(Rs. 151.05) followed by T2 (Rs.208.03) and T3 (Rs.457.34). Hydrophonic fodder is a land-saving nutritious alternative to green fodder for rabbits.
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Introduction
The domestic rabbit (Oryctolagus cuniculus) is a promising micro-livestock species that can play a role in improving the livelihood and nutritional security of poor and marginal farmers. Rabbits have, probably, the highest meat production capacity among domestic animals. Protein of high biological value, low fat and higher vitamin and mineral content make rabbit meat one of the important constituents of a healthy human diet. The new generation is more aware of health concerns raised by the medical fraternity about red meat consumption. In search of an alternative meat, rabbit meat can reliably address health and nutritional issues. Shorter age at maturity, short generation interval, higher prolificacy (30-50 kits/doe/yr), higher meat yield per rabbit per year, feed conversion efficiency (3.46 to 4.80) and unique meat quality are some of the virtues of the meat rabbit. However, like all animal farming, rabbitry is also considered a subsidiary sector of agriculture. The dependence of rabbits exclusively on crop residues may be suitable only for backyard rabbitries but not for commercial rabbitries. Newer rabbit strains, suitable fodder, value addition of meat and other products and marketing and export opportunities are needed to leap forward in meat rabbitry (Pandian al.,2026) [5] . To optimize the fodder production for rabbits, hydroponic cultivation is an ecofriendly method of growing fodder and hydroponic grown cereals grow up to 50% more and produce higher yields of better-quality fodder (Kide et al., 2015) [3] . The present study will help to understand the benefits of hydroponic fodder and growth performance of Soviet Chinchilla rabbits. Hence the present study was undertaken to assess the performance of Soviet Chinchilla rabbits under different feeding regimes.
Materials and Methods
Productivity of Hydroponic Cowpea Fodder
The cowpea seeds before soaking and hydroponic cowpea fodder harvested after 6 days of growth were weighed using electronic weighing balance. Productivity of hydroponic cowpea fodder was calculated using the formula Analysis of nutritional composition such as dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), crude fibre (CF), ether extract (EE), total ash (TA), nitrogen free extract (NFE), of concentrate feed, Guinea grass, hydroponic maize fodder and hydroponic cowpea fodder were carried out as per AOAC (2005).
Cost of Fodder Production
Cost of production / kg green fodder (Rs.) was calculated using the formula given below.
Different feeding regimes of Soviet Chinchilla rabbits
Cost of Rabbit Production
Cost of production / kg live weight gain (Rs.) was calculated using the formula given below.
The cost of feeding per animal per day for each treatment group was calculated using the formula given below and compared.
The data collected were analysed by the statistical methods suggested by Snedecor and Cochran (1994) [6] .
Results and Discussion
Proximate analysis of forages and concentrate feeds for rabbits under treatments groups were presented Table 2. In the present study, guinea grass had lower moisture and higher dry matter content compared to hydroponic forages. Among the hydroponic forages hydroponic maize had lower moisture and higher dry matter content which are similar to the findings of Jemimahet al. (2018) [2] . The crude protein content was highest in hydroponic cowpea (35.86%) followed by land grown guinea grass (14.92%) and hydroponic maize (10.93%). The higher crude protein in fodder cowpea might to due to leguminous type than other fodders. Crude protein content of guinea grass was higher than maize. This might be due to fertilization of land with poultry manure. The crude protein content of hydroponic cowpea is higher than land grown fodder cowpea (Matondi et al., 2015) [4] . Crude fibre was higher in land grown guinea grass compared to hydroponic fodder (26.36%). Nitrogen Free Extract (NFE) was highest in hydroponic maize (72.71%) compared to guinea grass and hydroponic fodder cowpea might be due to its cereal variety.
Feed Conversion Ratio
Overall Feed conversion ratio of rabbit in different treatment groups T 1 , T 2 and T 3 were 9.64±0.49, 6.12±0.30 and 5.97±0.26, respectively. The feed conversion ratio had highly significant difference in 6-8, 12-14 and 16-18 weeks of age; significant difference in 10-12 and 14-16 weeks of age and no significant difference in 8-10, 18-20, 20-22 and 22-24 weeks of age. FCR was observed to be lower in T 3 followed by T 2 and T 1 . The results of FCR in the present study were comparable with the findings of (Abdullahi et al., 2021 and Suarni et al., 2021) [1,7] . The better FCR in T 3 might be contributed by lower dry matter intake per unit weight gain. Details such as the cost of seed (Rs), fodder produced (Kg) per kg of seed, cost of production per kg of fodder (Rs), total cost incurred towards feeding of rabbits during experimental period (Rs) and cost of production per kg live weight are given in Table 19. The cost of production of guinea grass fodder was the least (Rs 0.30) followed by hydroponic maize (Rs 3.30) and high for hydroponic cow pea production (Rs 33.33) The total cost incurred towards feeding each rabbit during the experiment period was least in T 1 (Rs 151.05) followed by T 2 (208.03) and T 3 (457.34). Similarly cost of production per kg live weight in T 1 , T 2 and T 3 were Rs 113.57, 124.57 and 329.02 respectively.
Economics
Details such as the cost of seed (Rs), fodder produced (kg) per kg of seed, cost of production per kg of fodder (Rs), total cost incurred towards feeding of rabbits during experimental period (Rs) and cost of production per kg live weight are given in Table 3. The cost of production of guinea grass fodder was the least (Rs 0.30) followed by hydroponic maize (Rs 3.30) and high for hydroponic cow pea production (Rs 33.33) The total cost incurred towards feeding each rabbit during the experiment period was least in T 1 (Rs 151.05) followed by T 2 (208.03) and T 3 (457.34). Similarly cost of production per kg live weight in T 1 , T 2 and T 3 were Rs 113.57, 124.57 and 329.02 respectively. The cost of production for hydroponic maize fodder in the present study was higher than that reported by Jemimahet al. (2018) [2] and cost of feeding / animal /30 days (35.25 + 0.39 INR) than other two treatment groups. Hence, hydroponic maize fodder can be used as an alternate for concentrate mixture in the diet of rabbit kits.
Conclusion
The cost of rabbit production under hydroponic fodder is higher compared to conventional feeding of land grown fodder. Hydrophonic fodder can be alternative where land and water are limited for rabbit production. Wherever land is available, conventional fodder production is economical and where land is a major constraint and sale price of rabbit meat is high, hydroponic fodder production shall be favorably considered.
Conflict of Interest
Financial Support
References
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