HAEMATOLOGICAL INDICES, CARCASS AND ORGAN CHARACTERISTICS OF CROSSBRED WEANER RABBITS FED DEHYDRATED BOVINE RUMEN DIGESTA

Abstract

Twenty four crossbred rabbit of mixed sexes were used to evaluate the effect of different inclusion levels of dehydrated bovine rumen digesta (DBRD) on growth performance, carcass and organ characteristics of weaner rabbits. Four diets were formulated to contain 0% (control), 5, 10 and 15% DBRD. The rabbits were randomly divided into four groups and allotted into four treatments of 6 rabbits each in a completely randomized design (CRD). The trial lasted for 8 weeks. The result showed that the WBC and PCV increased significantly (p<0.05) as the level of DBRD increased beyond 5% in the diets, while MCHC and MCV decreased significantly (p<0.05) in rabbits that consumed the DBRD diets. There were significant (p<0.05) differences in liver weight, heart weight, kidney weight, spleen weight, lungs weight, and large intestine lengths among the treatments, whereas treatments had no significant (p>0.05) effect on live weight, dressed carcass weight, stomach length and small intestine length. Organ and carcass weights increased as the level of DBRD in the diets increased beyond 5%. It was concluded that up to 15% of graded levels of DBRD can be included in the diet of weaner rabbits without any deleterious effect on haematological indices, carcass and organ weights and lengths.