Author(s)

Aliyu, K. I^1*, Alagbe, J. O², Belewu M. A³, Wisdom, A.O¹, Garba, Y¹

Affiliation(s)

¹Department of Animal Science, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria.

²Department of Animal Nutrition and Biochemistry, Sumitra Research Institute, Gujarat, India.

³Department of Dairy Science, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria.

Corresponding Author

Aliyu, K. I

ABSTRACT

This experiment was carried out to investigate the haematological and serum biochemical indices of weaned rabbits fed pawpaw seed oil. Thirty-six weaned cross bred rabbits (Chinchilla × New Zealand white) with an initial body weight of 517.0 ± 0.26 grams were used for this experiment. Rabbits were balanced for weights and assigned to four treatment groups in a completely randomized design (CRD) in a feeding trial that lasted for eight weeks. Basal diet was formulated to meet the nutritional requirement of rabbits according to NRC (1977).  Animals in treatment 1 was fed basal diet without pawpaw seed oil while treatment 2, 3 and 4 were fed same diet supplemented with pawpaw seed oil at 0.1 mL, 0.2 mL and 0.3 mL per kilogram respectively. Feed and water were supplied at all times. Results obtained showed that pack cell volume, haemoglobin, red blood cell, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration, white blood cell, lymphocytes, monocytes and basophil count which varied from 27.82 – 34.65 %, 8.45 – 13.06 g/dL, 4.81 – 6.07 (×106μL), 38.83 – 54.11 fl, 16.54 – 26.57 pg, 60.46 – 82.60 %, 7.45 – 11.56 (×103μL), 54.73 – 70.67 (×103μL), 5.17 – 5.30 (×103μL) and 2.13 – 3.10 (×103μL) were influenced (P<0.05) by the treatment. Albumin, globulin and glucose levels were significantly (P<0.05) increased except for creatinine and urea values (P>0.05). However, values obtained were within the established range for healthy rabbits. In conclusion, pawpaw seed oil can be fed to weaned rabbits up to 0.3 mL per kg without causing any deleterious effect on their health status. 

KEYWORDS

Pawpaw; Oil; Rabbits; Haematology; Serum

CITE THIS PAPER

Aliyu, K. I, Alagbe, J. O, Belewu M. A, Wisdom, A.O, Garba, Y. Haematological and serum biochemical indices of weaned rabbits fed pawpaw seed oil. World Journal of Agriculture and Forestry Sciences. 2024, 2(3): 17-22. DOI: 10.61784/wjafs3010.

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