Growth Development in Pre-Pubertal Female Rabbits Fed Crude Oil (Bonny Light) Contaminated Forage

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine the effects of crude oil (Bonny Light Grade) on the growth potential of young female rabbits. Forty pre-pubertal female rabbits within the age bracket of 16-17 weeks were used for this study. These forty young rabbits were randomly allocated to five dietary treatment group (A-E) with the control group inclusive. All other conditions of management were similar. At the expiration of the experiment which lasted for 24 weeks, data collected were analyzed using the analysis of variance method and differences in means separated using the Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) means. It was observed that growth was significantly depressed (P.0.05) in the crude oil treated diets (B-E) with the lowest weight (1320.001 ±} 10.00) (g) observed in rabbits fed the highest (0.20%) contaminated diet. Similar depressed observations were made in the animals fed contaminated forage on other parameters as feed intake and feed efficiency compared with animals in the control group.

Keywords: Pre-pubertal, doe, crude oil, hydrocarbons, Niger Delta

Journal of Agriculture and Social Research (JASR) Vol. 11, No. 1, 2011