Effect of dietary supplementation of neem oil (Azadirachtaindica) on the growth performance and nutrient digestibility of weaned rabbits

The objective of the present study was to determine the effect of dietary supplementation of neem oil (Azadirachtaindica) on the growth performance and nutrient digestibility of weaned rabbits. A total of 50 weaned male cross bred rabbits between 5-6 weeks with an average weight of 565.4g-566.8gwere divided into five dietary groups of ten (10) weaned rabbits each in a completely randomized design. The dietary treatments include a control, T1 (basal) diet with no neem oil (NOL), T2, T3, T4 and T5 were fed basal diet supplemented with NOL at 0.1%, 0.2%, 0.3% and 0.4% respectively. Feed and water were offered ad libitum throughout the experiment which lasted for 12 weeks. The data obtained was used to evaluate the growth performance: weight gain (WG), feed intake (FI), feed conversion ratio (FCR), mortality and nutrient digestibility (dry matter, crude protein, crude fibre and ether extract). WG, ADFI, TFI were significantly (P˂0.05) different among the treatments. T5 had the highest weight gain (755.90 g) followed by T4(734.0g), T3(705.90g), T2(705.0g) and T1(621.80g) respectively. Highest mortality was recorded in T1 (2%) followed by T2 (1%), none was recorded in T3, T4 and T5. Neem oil significantly influenced (P˂0.05) all the parameters measured. It could be concluded thatneem oil contains some essential nutrients and bioactive chemicals and could be supplemented in the diet of rabbit at 0.4 % without any deleterious effect on the general performance of the animal.