Influence of age, sex and pregnancy status on some blood parameters in crossbred rabbits

Abstract

Blood samples were obtained from 80 rabbits of mixed breeds comprising adults, growers and weaners between June and August 2005 to determine the mean variations in packed cell volume (PCV), Haemoglobin (Hb) and Total Protein (TP) as affected by sex, age and pregnancy status. The mean variation in PCV, Hb and TP as affected by sex in the different age groups showed no significant difference (p>0.05); however the PCV and Hb values were higher in males than females, while the TP value obtained did not follow any particular trend. Non- pregnant does had consistently higher values for all the blood parameters studied than the pregnant does (Non-pregnant does, PCV = 39.50 ± 1.28, Hb = 13.17 ± 0.43 and TP = 6.87 ± 0.23; Pregnant does, PCV = 38.25 ± 0.92, Hb = 12.76 ± 0.31 and TP= 5.79 ± 0.13) with significant difference only in the TP values(P<0.001) In the pooled data, the PCV and Hb values obtained decreased with increasing age but there was no significant difference in the values (p>0.05) while the TP value increased with increasing age, with marked significant difference (p<0.001). The results obtained on blood parameters were as priori reported for other species of animals.


Journal of Agriculture, Forestry and the Social Sciences Vol. 3 (2) 2005: pp.120-125