Hematology and Serum Biochemistry of Rabbits Fed Dried Sweet Orange (Citrus Sinensis) Pulp Meal Based Diets

Abstract

Thirty six (36) growing rabbits (18 males and 18 females) aged between 5-6 weeks were divided into six groups of six rabbits each, consisting of same number of males and females were used in an 84-day feeding trial to evaluate their hematological and serum biochemical characteristics when fed graded levels of dried sweet orange fruit pulp meal (SOPM). The rabbit groups were randomly assigned to diets T₀, T₅ T₁₀, T_15, T₂₀ and T₂₅ in which SOPM replaced maize at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25% weight for weight, respectively. On the 84^th day of the feeding trial, four rabbits per treatment (2 males and 2 females) were selected for the evaluation of packed cell volume (PCV), hemoglobin concentration (Hb), red blood cell count (RBC), white blood cell count (WBC), mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH). Serum biochemical indices such as serum glucose, urea nitrogen, cholesterol, total protein, albumin and globulin were also calculated. The results showed that all the hematological indices varied significantly (p<0.05) in response to the experimental diets with the exception of MCHC, but were within the normal range for rabbits. The serum glucose, cholesterol, total protein were affected significantly (p<0.05) by the diets but their concentrations were within the normal range for rabbits. The sweet orange fruit pulp meal based diets were nutritionally adequate to meet rabbit requirements for accretion and safe consumption at 25% level of maize replacement. This shows that sweet orange fruit pulp meal is a possible feed resource for rabbit production.