Effects of Palm Kernel Oil on Growth Carcass Quality and Fatty Acid Composition of some Organs of Growing Rabbits

Thirty weaned male chinchilla rabbits (6 wk, old) were fed, in a complete randomised block design experiment, on Iso-energetic and iso-proteinous corn offal/groundnut cake base diets, with palm kernel oil (PKO) supplementation, at 0, 3 and 5 per cent level. The experiment tasted eight weeks. There were no significant differences in feed intake and weight gain although ad libitum feed intake and feed conversion ratio improved slightly with increasing PKO supplementation. PKO level had no effect on feed intake (g/kg W^0.75), which decreased linearly in all groups with age. ME intake increased, although its utilisation for weight gain remained similar. 3 per cent Inclusion increased (P<0.05) CF digestibility and showed a tendency of being the best in the total digestible nutrients. At 3 per cent level,the dressed carcass and kidney percentage were significantly higher. Fat deposition (lard) increased with increasing PKO, which also increased liver fraction size. The heart, kidney and liver were found to be rich in myristic, palmitic, stearic and oleic acids. The fatty acids found in the organs were different from those found in the oil. This study demonstrates that, under tropical conditions, the best level of inclusion of PKO in rabbit diets should be about 3 per cent, and also that fatty acids found in rabbit organ tissues are synthesized de novo.