Blood profile of growing rabbits fed roasted solvent extracted castor seed meal

Abstract

Sixteen growing rabbits with mean initial body weight of 750g were used in a feeding trial that lasted 56 days. The animals were randomly allotted into four (4) dietary treatment groups consisting of four (4) animals per group. Each treatment groups was replicated twice with individually housed rabbit per replicate.Thefourdietarytreatmentscontained0,0.5,1.0and 1.5% replacement levels of roasted-solvent extracted castor seedmeal (RSECSM) for soyabean in a completely randomized design experiment. The parameters investigated were haematological and serum indices. At the end of the feeding trial, blood samples were collected from the animals through the heart (left side) for haematology and serum indices. Eight (8) growing rabbits at the rate of two (2) animals per treatment were stunned and sacrificed for the blood collection. Data obtained were subjected to one way analysis of variance. The results show that feeding of RSECSM to growing rabbits did not show any significant (p>0.05) effecton PCV, Hb and RBC while the inclusion of RSECSM at graded dietary level had significant (p<0.05) effect on the WBC, WBC counts and Platelets. The WBC values ranged from 11025.0014900.00 while the values for platelets ranged from 72500.00 – 30500.00 respectively. Among the leukocyte differential counts examined lymphocytes, monocyte and eosinophil were significantly (p <0.05) different among the dietary treatments, however neutrophil was not significantly (p >0.05) different among the means. The serum indices such as total protein, albumin, globulin, creatinine examined were not significantly(p >0.05) affected by the dietary treatment except the cholesterol. The results of this study indicated that 1.5% inclusion levels of RSECSM in the growing rabbit diet affect some haematological parameters while it appears to be the optimum level for serum indices.