PERFORMANCE, ORGAN WEIGHTS AND BLOOD COMPOSITION OF RABBITS FED DIETARY LEVELS OF PALM OIL MILL EFFLUENT (POME)

Abstract

The performance of young growing rabbits in which corn offal was replaced by 0, 2,5and 10%palm oil mill effluent (POME) was evaluated for l0weeks. Addition of POME did not influence fed intake but positively affected body weight gain (P c 0.05) at 10% level of inclusion but no other 1evels.There were also no significant differences (P>0.05) in the carcass yield of the POME treated rabbits. The total serum protein, parked cell volume, hemoglobin concentration and the blood cells were not affected. The cholesterol distribution in liver, testes, heart and adrenal glands was not altered by the POME inclusion. The mortality recorded in this study was not attributable to dietary intake. "The result suggest that up to 10% POME can replace corn offal’s in the diets without deleterious effects.