etude comparative de la digestibilité in vivo de l'herbe de guinée (panicum maximum jacq.) associée aux feuilles et tiges de patate douce (ipomoea batatas (l.) lam) (régime panipo) ou à l'herbe de lait (euphorbia heterophylla l.) (régime paneuph) chez le lapin (oryctolagus cuniculus l.) et le cobaye (cavia porcellus l.)

Digestibility of Guinea grass (Panicum maximum Jacq.) associated with sweet potato leaves and stems (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) (Panipo diet) or poison milk (Euphorbia heterophylla L.) (Paneuph diet) in Rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus L.) and in Guinea Pigs (Cavia porcellus L.). A comparative study of in vivo digestibility of Guinea grass (Panicum maximum Jacq.) associated with sweet potato leaves and stems (Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam) (Panipo diet) or with poison milk (Euphorbia heterophylla L.) (Paneuph diet) was conducted involving 16 rabbits and 16 weaned guinea pigs fed ad libitum. Paneuph was significantly better ingested (P<0.05) than Panipo by rabbits whereas no significant differences were observed between the two diets (P>0.05) for guinea pigs. Poison milk was better ingested than the leaves and stems of sweet potato (P<0.05) in rabbits and guinea pigs (33% and 58%, respectively). Paneuph induces a higher weight gain (22±10 g/d) in rabbits (P<0.05) compared to Panipo (12±4 g/d), while in guinea pigs, no significant difference was observed (P>0.05). The ADC of DM, OM and MAT of Paneuph exceeded 80% and were higher than those of Panipo in rabbits and guinea pigs (P<0.05). Based on the results obtained, the effects of the distribution of the Guinea grass associated with the poison milk during rabbits growing have to be further studied before recommending this new diet to farmers in areas where poison milk and Guinea grass are present and rabbit breeding enough developed.