Growth performance, carcass and hematological characteristics of rabbits fed graded levels of tiger nuts ( Cyperus esculentus )

This experiment was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of tiger nuts ( Cypers esculentus ) rejects on the growth performance, carcass weight and hematological parameters of weaner rabbits. Three experimental diets were formulated with Diets A being a commercial growers’ mash as control diet; Diet B: 5% parts of Tiger nuts ( Cyperus esculentus) +95% parts of Diet A; Diet C: 10% parts of Tiger nuts ( Cyperus esculentus ) +90% parts of Diet A. The effects of dietary treatments on feed intake, body weight gain and feed conversion ratio were not significant (p>0.05). The dressing percentage ranged from 66.87 to 75.92% and was significantly (p 0.05) difference between treatments. Results demonstrated that ( Cyperus esculentus ) could be used up to 5% in rabbit’s diets without adverse effect on the animals’ performance and health.