Feeding effect of complete pellets with inclusions of Sesbania grandiflora leaf on feed intake, growth performance, digestibility and meat quality of growing rabbits

Importance of the work: Sesbania grandiflora leaf could reduce dependence on imported protein feed ingredients in rabbit production systems in Malaysia. Objectives: To evaluate the effects of dietary S. grandiflora leaf inclusion on rabbit growth, digestibility, carcass composition and meat quality. Materials and Methods: A completely randomized design was used to assign 15 male rabbits, aged approximately 2 mth after weaning, to three dietary treatments containing 0% (T1), 5% (T2) or 10% (T3) S. grandiflora (L.) Poir. leaves. The rabbits were fed ad libitum for 62 d, including a digestibility trial for 7 d. Carcass composition and meat quality were evaluated after slaughtering. Results: The rabbits fed the T2 diet had higher dry matter, crude fiber (CF) and ether extract intake than the rabbits fed the T1 diet. CF digestibility was significantly higher in the rabbits fed the T3 diet compared with the rabbits fed the T1 and T2 diets, while no significant difference was observed between T1 and T2. Ash digestibility was higher in the rabbits fed the T2 and T3 diets than in the rabbits fed the T1 diet. Growth performance was improved in the rabbits fed the T2 diet, with higher total body weight gain (BWG) and daily BWG. Carcass composition and meat quality were not significantly affected, although the meat ash content was higher in the rabbits fed the T2 diet. Main finding: Inclusion of 5–10% S. grandiflora leaves in the rabbit diets partially replaced imported feed ingredients without adversely affecting growth performance, nutrient digestibility, carcass composition or meat quality.