Journal of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine

Calcium and phosphorus play fundamental roles in regulating metabolic activities and skeletal development in livestock. Rock Phosphate (RP), a naturally occurring calcium-phosphorus rich resource containing high fluoride content, holds promise as an alternative to bone meal.  Fifty-four crossbred weanling rabbits, aged seven weeks old with an average initial weight of 599.65 ± 2.70 g, were randomly assigned to nine dietary treatments in a completely randomised design. Raw Rock Phosphate (RRP) or Heat-Treated Rock Phosphate (HTRP) replaced bone meal at 0, 25, 50, 75, or 100% for RRP and HTRP diets, respectively. Feed and water were provided ad libitum. Growth performance was monitored for 70 days, after which three rabbits per treatment were euthanised for carcass evaluation and bone analysis following standard procedures. Data were analysed using orthogonal contrasts and polynomial regression in SAS version 9.4 (2023). No significant differences (p>0.05) were observed in most growth performance indices, except for the feed conversion ratio between the control and the HTRP group. Carcass characteristics were generally similar across treatments, with the exception of dressed percentage and forelimb weights (p<0.05). Bone parameters did not differ significantly (P > 0.05) among treatments, except for humeral diameter. It was therefore concluded that rock phosphate was a viable alternative to bone meal and the threat of nutrient loss to complexes was reduced through the adopted processing method of heat treatment, which tends to deflourinate rock phosphate, thereby improving calcium and phosphorus bioavailability for growth performance, carcass quality and bone mineralisation.