Singh et al., 1997. World Rabbit Science, 6 (2): 223-225

Twenty-one broiler rabbits, weaned at 5 weeks of age, were divided into 3 groups on the basis of body weight in a randomized block design and fed for 8 weeks on an isonitrogenous concentrate mixture containing 60% (I), 40% (II) or 20% (III) crushed maize grain, supplemented ad libitum with kikuyu (Pennisetum clandestinum) green grass (protein 16.1% DM, EE 2.2%, CF 26.8% and ash 10.2% DM). Replacement of crushed maize in groups II and III was done with wheat bran increase (17.5 up to 64%)  and groundnut cake decrease (15.5 to 9%). Body weight gain (17.9 to 19.7 g daily), feed conversion efficiency (3.6 to 3.9), hot carcass weight (663 to 698 g), weight of internal organs and total DM intake (89.9 to 93.8 g daily) did not differ between treatments. However, inclusion of wheat bran (groups II and III) in the diet enhanced (P<0.01) DM digestibility. It is concluded that broiler rabbits can be reared satisfactorily on a low-grain concentrate diet (containing 20 parts of maize grain and up to 64 parts of wheat bran) supplemented with green grass fodder ad libitum. It must be underlined that the proportion of daily dry matter intake asPennisetum was 48.8 - 51.5 and 49.9%  for treatments I, II and III respectively.