Ly Thi Luyen et al., 2012. Livest. Res. Rural Dev., 24 (7): 127

An experiment was conducted at the Goat and Rabbit Research Centre to determine effects on feed intake, average daily gain (ADG), feed conversion ratio (FCR) and economic returns of New Zealand White rabbits raised on two feeding systems: sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) vines with supplementation of paddy rice and Guinea grass plus commercial concentrate. There were 5 levels of supplement (paddy rice or concentrate): 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40 g/head/day. A total of 30 male growing rabbits at 6 weeks of age were equally divided into 2 main groups of 15 each to be fed on either of the two basal diets. Each of the two main groups was further divided into 5 sub-groups (treatments) of 3 rabbits each. The rabbits were housed and fed in individual cages. The experiment lasted 10 weeks following 7 days of adaptation. The system of sweet potato vines and paddy rice supported higher growth rates and better feed conversion than Guinea grass plus concentrate. In the Guinea grass-concentrates system the feed conversion became worse as the level of supplement increased; in contrast on the sweet potato vine-paddy rice system, feed conversion was the same irrespective of the level of supplementation.