PRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE OF GROWING RABBITS FED DIETS CONTAINING FENUGREEK STRAW AND SUPPLEMENTED WITH ENZYMES.

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of partially replacement of clover hay by fenugreek straw (FS) at 20, 40 and 60% in rabbit diets with or without enzyme supplementation on the growth performance, digestibility of nutrients, carcass traits and economic efficiency. Seven experimental diets were formulated. A total of eighty four weaned New Zealand White rabbits with an average body weight 732.72 g ±1.40 g were individually housed, randomly allocated to seven groups and each group consisted of three replicates (four rabbits each). The obtained results showed that rabbits fed 40% FS with enzyme recorded significantly (P<0.05) the highest value of final body weight (2112.0gm) compared with the other experimental diets. Also, high (P<0.05) daily weight gain was observed for both rabbits fed 40% FS with or without enzyme (27.99 and 23.31 g/day, respectively). While, weight gain of rabbits fed 60%FS without enzyme was lower than that of the control group (18.99g/day) by 12.44%. Feed intake did not significantly change due to the inclusion of fenugreek straw either with or without enzymes. Concerning to digestibility trial, the results showed that rabbits fed either 20 or 40% FS with enzyme recorded better (P<0.05) values of the nutrients digestibility. Accordingly, the nutritive value expressed as TDN and DE revealed that rabbits fed 20%FS without enzyme and 60% FS with enzyme recorded better (P<0.05) of total VFA in comparison to those fed the control diet. Rabbits fed 40% FS with enzyme recorded the lowest value of blood cholesterol compared with the other experimental groups. Rabbits fed diets contained 60% FS with enzyme recorded significantly the highest level of Creatinine (1.29 mg/dl) compared with the control (1.13 mg/dl). Rabbits fed diets contained 40% FS with or without enzyme recorded better Dressing% than the control group. Besides, the rabbit group fed 40% FS with enzyme achieved the highestnet revenue, economic efficiency and relative economic efficiency compared to the other experimental groups. It could be concluded that incorporation of fenugreek straw as non traditional fiber source in rabbit diets at 20, 40 and 60% replacing for clover hay supplementing with exogenous enzymes led to an improve in the growth performance and digestibility of most nutrients as well as the nutritive values of tested diets.