OGUNYALE, OLUWAFUNMIBIOLUFISAYO2026-01-122026-01-122027-08-15https://ir.funaab.edu.ng/handle/123456789/537A Dissertation Submitted to the Department of Animal Production and Health, College of Animal Scienceand Livestock Production, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Degree of Master of Agriculture in Non-Ruminant ProductionABSTRACT Algalbiomassisbeingexploredasasustainablefeedadditiveforrabbitproductionduetoitshigh protein,fiberandnutrientcontent.Thisstudyevaluated theimpactofalgal biomassongrowth performance,gestationalandreproductive performance,digestibility,andbloodparametersof rabbitweanersanddoes.Thestudyconsistedofthreeexperiments.Experiment1investigated theeffectsofalgal biomassongestational performanceanddigestibilityin20rabbitdoes.The animalsweredividedintofourtreatmentsoffivereplicateseach.Algalbiomasswasincludedin thedietat0,0.5,1.0,and1.5%.Experiment2examinedtheresidualeffectofalgalbiomasson growth performance in36weanerrabbitsfromdoesused inExperiment 1,theweanerswere divided into4treatmentscorrespondingtothedoestreatmentsandfurthersub-divided into3 replicates of 3 weaners each. Datawere collected from theanimals fora period of8 weeks. Experiment 3 assessed the residual effect of algal biomass on gestational performance, reproductive performance, digestibility, and blood indices in rabbit does. Animals from experiment1wereusedforthisstudy,underthesameenvironmentalconditionsandmanagement practices except fordietary changes. Thealgal biomass was removed from theirdietand all animalswereswitchedtothebasaldiet.Alldatacollected weresubjected toone-wayAnalysis ofVariance(ANOVA)inacompletelyrandomizeddesign (CRD) usingSAS (2012).Significant means were separatedusing Duncan multipleTestascontained inthesoftware. Theresults showedthatalgalbiomasshadnosignificant (p>0.05)effectongestational performance and nutrientdigestibility in rabbitdoes(Experimentl).Itwasalsorevealed inExperiment 2that withdrawalofalgalbiomassfromdietofweanerrabbitshadnosignificant(p>0.05)effectonthe growthperformance.Experiment3,revealedthatwithdrawalofalgalbiomassdidnotaffect (p>0.05)gestationalperformance,reproductiveperformanceanddigestibility,butsignificantlyenThesis