Preliminary investigations on the effect of pawpaw peel meal on organ weights, reproductive tract morphometry and the hematology of female rabbits

Abstract

Grower female rabbits were fed either a complete concentrate diet or a pawpaw peels based diet at 20% to obtain preliminary information for use in further instigations to establish paw-paw peels as a feed for rabbits. While the animals on the control diet had significantly longer ovaries (P<0.05) and a higher population of monocytes (P<0.05) than the animals on the pawpaw peels diet; growth rate, all other reproductive tract morphometric characteristics, visceral organ weights, endocrine gland weights, and other hematological parameters were unaffected (P>0.05) by dietary treatment.

Keywords: rabbits, pawpaw peels, growth, reproductive tract, endocrine, hematology

Global Journal of Pure and Applied Sciences Vol. 12(2) 2006: 165-169