Seasonal growth in rabbits fed wheat and maize bran with tropical forages

摘要

Bransarereadilyavailableasanagro-industrialbyproductinthetropics:wheatbrancommerciallyandmaizebraninruralhouseholds.Rabbitsfedamixtureoflocallyavailableforageswereusedtocomparetheefficacyoffatteningwithwheatbran,maizebran,amixtureofwheatandmaizebranandacommerciallyavailablerabbitfeed.Trialswereundertakeninboththehotterrainyseasonandthecoolerdryseason.Mortalityandaveragedailygain(ADG)bothindicatedthattheuseofbranswasnoteffectiveintherainyseason.Inthedryseason,however,themixtureofmaizeandwheatbrancomparedfavourablywiththecommercialfeedwith8.3%mortalityand17.6gADG.Mortalitieswereespeciallyhighinthemaizetreatmentsinbothseasons,25%inthecoolseasonand41.7%intherainyseason.Atoxicityeffectfromfungusinfectedmaizebranissuspected.