Haematological profile and body weight of rabbit bucks administered human menopausal gonadotropin (Menogon)

Abstract

The study investigated the effect of Menogon treatment on haematological parameters and body weight of male rabbits. Twenty-four bucks of Chinchilla × Dutch breed, weighing between 1.3 – 1.6 kg and aged 15 – 17 weeks, were divided into four groups receiving different doses of Menogon (0.0 IU as control, 7.5, 15.0, and 22.5 IU) for 56 days in a completely randomised design. Each dose group was replicated three times with two bucks per replicate. Blood samples were collected weekly from the ear vein for haematological analysis. The results showed that the packed cell volume was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the group receiving 15.0 IU (33.45 ± 1.00%) compared to the 22.5 IU (29.33 ± 1.00%), 7.5 IU (29.04 ± 1.00%), and control (28.67 ± 1.00%) groups. Additionally, there was a significant (p<0.05) increase in lymphocyte count in the control group (51.92 ± 1.81%) compared to the 7.5 IU (49.34 ± 1.81%), 15.0 IU (45.83 ± 1.81%), and 22.5 IU (43.25 ± 1.81%) groups. Regarding body weight, there was a significantly (p<0.05) higher average weight gain (0.79 ± 0.03 kg) and final weight gain (2.20 ± 0.03 kg) observed in bucks treated with 22.5 IU of Menogon. These findings indicated that Menogon administration led to a significant increase in rabbit bucks' weight without adverse effects, as haematological parameters remained within normal ranges.