ORGAN HISTOPATHOLOGYAND TOTAL PROTEIN CONCENTRATIONS IN EPIDIDYMAL / TESTICULAR FLUIDS OF RABBIT BUCKS FED KOLANUT HUSK MEAL AS REPLACEMENT FOR MAIZE

Abstract

A total of forty cross bred weaned rabbit bucks (5-6 weeks old) were used to determine the effect of replacing maize with kolanut husk meal (KHM) on the organ histopathology, epididymal and testicular fluids protein concentrations. The rabbits were assigned to the test diets using a completely randomized design (CRD) after weight equalization. There were five treatments with eight bucks per treatment. The dietary treatments were designated as T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 containing 0, 20, 40, 60, and 80% replacement levels of kolanut husk meal for maize, respectively. The rabbits were allowed to adjust for two (2) weeks in the rabbitry before the commencement of the experiment. After the adjustment period, the animals were
subjected to six weeks feeding trial after which the histopathology of organs as well as epididymal and testicular fluids protein concentrations and were determined. All data obtained from the epididymal and testicular protein concentrations were subjected to one-way analysis of variance. Results showed the gross appearance of the organs (kidney, liver and spleen) from rabbits fed replacement levels KHM for maize to have normal histopathological architecture without obvious abnormalities when compared with the tissues from rabbits fed the control diet. There were no significant differences (P>0.05) in the total protein concentrations of epididymal and testicular fluids of rabbit bucks. The study concludes that kolanut husk meal can replace maize up to 80% in diets meant for rabbit bucks without any deleterious effects on organs
and total protein concentrations in the testicular and epididymal fluids.