Five digestibility trails were carried out to determine chemical composition.
digestion coefficients and feeding value of some untraditional feedstuffs i.e. darawa,
guar, cassava and peanut hays compared with clover hay which is considered the most
common feedstuffs, used in rabbit diets. Fifteen adult male rabbits (White New Zealand)
of about 36 weeks of age were used (three animals for each trail). They were allocated
in15 digestion cages under similar managerial conditions and fed the tested feedstuffs!
ad lib. Their chemical composition revealed markedly high OM content which ranged
from 96.5 % (cassava hay) to 46.5 % (guar hay), A suitable percentages of CP were
observed in the tested materials being 15.11, 14.43, 19.72,21.60 and 13,73 % for clover,
darawa, guar, cassava and peanut hays, respectively. While CF content was somewhat
high but suitable for rabbit being 22,47,24.76,21.96,18,02 and 26.82% for such
materials in the same order, Guar hay recorded the highest CP digestion coefficient and
OCP values (81.97and 16.16%) , while peanut hay recorded the lowest values (53.87
and 7.39 %). The others recorded intermediate values being (61.50 and 9.29
%):( 60.15 and 8.68 %) and (60.33 and 13.03%) for clover, darawa and cassava hays,
respectively. Digestibility of CF was relatively high with guar and peanut hays (58,78
and 41 ,94 %) and relatively low with clover, darawa and cassava hays (29.0, 23.15 and
20.78 %). Concerning OM digestibility, except guar hay which recorded the highest
value (77.19 %), all other tested feedstuffs were nearly similar .The best DE value was
noticed in guar hay (2809 K cal/Kg) followed by cassava hay (2488 Kcal IKg). peanut
hay (2371 KcallKg), clover hay (2340 Kcal I Kg) and darawa (2153 Kcal IKg) which had
the lowest value, Feeding value in terms of TON and OCP indicated that guar hay had
the highest values followed by cassava hay compared to the other tested feedstuffs,
which were nearly similar in such measurements. All the tested feedstuffs covered the
recommended allowances of maintenance requirements of TON and OCP . It could be concluded that, guar, cassava and peanut hays may be considered
good and acceptable ingredients in feeding rabbits compared to clover hay.