Abstract
A total of thirty-five mixed breed (35) rabbits of average weight of 700 g aged 5-6 weeks were allocated to seven treatments in a completely randomised design to investigate the effect of sweet orange fruit waste (SOFW) and acidomix acidifier on haematology and serum chemistry. The diets were 0% SOFW, 10% SOFW with 0.5% acidomix, 10% SOFW with 0.7 acidomix, 15% SOFW with 0.5% acidifier, 15% SOFW with 0.7% acidifier, 20% SOFW with 0.5% acidifier, and 20% SOFW with 0.7% acidifier. Blood samples were analyzed for haemoglobin (hb) concentration, white blood cells (WBC), red blood cells (RBC), differential WBC count (lymphocyte, basophil, eosinophil, monocyte, and neutrophil), alanine amino transferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate amino transferase (AST), total protein, albumin, and globulin. There was no interaction between SOFW and acidifier for the haematological and most of the serum chemistry parameters but significant difference was observed in ALT; however the values were within the normal range. SOFW had no significant effect on all haematological and serum chemistry parameters. Acidomix had significant effect (P < 0.05) on haemoglobin concentration; rabbits fed 0.5% acidomix diets had higher values which were within the normal range. It is therefore concluded that SOFW with acidifier up to 20% had no detrimental effect on serum chemistry and haematology.
Highlights
Rabbit production has a considerable potential in the developing countries for the supply of the much needed animal protein due to low capital investment and space requirement, short generation interval, rapid growth rate, high proliferation, and use of agricultural by-products Cheeke [1]
This study aimed at determining the effect of feeding varying levels of sweet orange fruit waste meal and acidomix© diets on the haematology and serum chemistry of rabbits
There was no significant difference (P > 0.05) observed in white blood cells (WBC) values; the values fell within the range of 5–13 × 109as reported by Chilson [18]
Summary
Rabbit production has a considerable potential in the developing countries for the supply of the much needed animal protein due to low capital investment and space requirement, short generation interval, rapid growth rate, high proliferation, and use of agricultural by-products Cheeke [1]. A lot of research work has been conducted in Nigeria in an effort to substitute maize with cheaper and readily available ingredients in order to reduce cost and overdependence on this feedstuff for rabbit feeding. Many of these alternative feed stuffs are by-products and edible waste products from food processing, food preparation and food services industries, and bio fuel industries. A lot of the orange harvested is wasted due to few and small capacity of the processing industries to convert the fruit to juice, concentrate, and canned fruit Hon et al [7] It constitutes an environmental challenge since it is not being put into productive use. The excess can be utilized for feeding of livestock such as rabbits that can handle high fibre diets
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