THE EFFECT OF PIPER GUINEENSE AND XYLOPIA AETHIOPICA SUPPLEMENTATION ON THERMOREGULATORY RESPONSES IN RABBITS

Abstract

The study was aimed at investigating the effect of Piper guineense and Xylopia aethiopica supplementation on thermoregulatory responses in rabbits. Twenty-four 4 months old rabbits (12 Chinchilla and 12 New Zealand White; average weight 1250 g) were used in a 10-week trial. Supplements of Uziza and Uda seeds were added at 10 g/kg each and a control diet without treatment. Rabbits were housed individually and randomly assigned to 6 groups (n=4/group) including control diet (no Uda or Uziza seeds), diet 2 (Control + Uziza seeds), and diet 3 (Control + Uda seeds) for each of the two breeds. The thermoregulatory responses – ear and rectal temperatures, respiratory and pulse rates were monitored and recorded weekly. Data were subjected to two-way analysis of variance on a 2 x 3 factorial block design in IBM SPSS 20. The afternoon rectal temperature was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the control diet (39.270C) than in those supplemented with Uziza (38.260C) and Uda (38.150C) seeds. The morning rectal temperature were significantly (p<0.05)
higher in the Uda (37.700C) seed-supplemented diet than in the Uziza (37.370C) seed-supplemented diet compared to the control (37.200C) diet. Afternoon rectal temperature was significantly affected (p<0.05) by rabbit breeds as afternoon rectal temperature was significantly (p<0.05) higher in New Zealand White (38.680C) breeds than in Chincilla (38.440C) breeds. There was an interaction (p<0.05) between supplemented diets and rabbit breeds as this showed that morning pulse rate reduced by supplemented diet in Chinchilla breed but not in New Zealand White breed. Dietary supplementation of Uda and Uziza seeds influenced the thermoregulatory responses of rabbits.