UB Faculty of Animal Science Lecturer Gives Feed Preparation Training to Rabbit Breeders Association in Batu City

After the Covid-19 pandemic gradually improved, now the demand for rabbits in the Batu City area has increased. This is supported because Batu City is a tourist destination so that sales of ornamental rabbits and demand for broiler rabbits increase. Besides that, Batu is also a center for horticulture agriculture so that there is an abundance of vegetable waste that can be used for rabbit feed.

However, according to a lecturer at the Faculty of Animal Husbandry, Universitas Brawijaya (Fapet UB), Dr. Heli Tistiana, S.Pt., MP., Vegetable waste has a fairly high water content, while crude fiber and protein are low. So that it can cause digestive disorders and diarrhea in rabbits and not meet nutritional needs.

Heli and the lecturer team designed a solution to overcome the feed problem. Namely by adding feed ingredients that contain high fiber and protein, using forage supplementation technology as a source of fiber and a source of protein.

The team consisted of Heli (chairman), Prof. M. Halim Natsir, Prof. V.M. Ani Nurgiartiningsih, and Yuli Frita Nuningtyas, M.Sc. This program socializes this innovation to a rabbit livestock group in Batu City called the Rabbit Breeders Association (ASPEK). This is because on average ASPEK livestock members provide feed in the form of vegetable waste and a little additional concentrate feed in the form of pollard and bran. Even some breeders have provided complete feed in the form of pellets whose nutritional content is sufficient for rabbits.

“Unfortunately the price of pellets is much more expensive than vegetable waste, so farmers get a slim profit or even lose.” Heli explained

“Therefore, the use of vegetable waste has an advantage in terms of price, however, additional forage materials around which are fibrous and high in protein are needed.” she continued

Available and easy-to-obtain feed ingredients as a source of fiber are grass, straw and hay. It’s just that straw has a deficiency in high silica lignin content and is difficult for rabbits to digest. So the feed ingredients that can be used as a source of crude protein and are available around are from leguminous plants. This socialization and training activity was carried out for two months, from May to June 2023 which was wrapped up through community service. (dta)