GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND HAEMATOLOGICAL INDICES OF WEANER RABBITS FED DIETS SUPPLEMENTED WITH SACCHAROMYCES CEREVISIAE

Abstract

A study was conducted to evaluate the growth performance and haematological indices of weaner rabbits fed varying levels of Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Thirty two weaner rabbits were weighed and randomly allocated into four treatment groups (T1, T2, T3 and T4) having eight rabbits per treatment. Each treatment was replicated four times with two rabbits per replicate. Treatment 1 served as the control and did not contain Saccharomyces cerevisiae supplement, while treatments 2, 3 and 4 contained 1, 1.5 and 2 g/kg of basal diet respectively of Saccharomyces cerevisiae supplement. The experiment lasted ten weeks. Results showed that there were no significant (p>0.05) differences among treatments in initial body weight and feed conversion ratio while average daily feed intake (ADFI), and average daily weight gain (ADWG) were significantly (p<0.05) affected. The study revealed significantly (P < 0.05) higher ADWG in the rabbits of treatment groups T2, T3 and T4 compared to the control group (T1). Lowest ADFI and haemaglobin  concentration were recorded in T1. The packed cell volume of rabbits in T3 and T4 are significantly (p<0.05) higher than those of T1 and T2. The red blood cell count of rabbits in T4 was significantly (p<0.05) higher than those of other treatment groups. The total white blood cell count of rabbits in T2, T3 and T4 were significantly (p<0.05) higher than that of T1. The mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemaglobin, and mean corpuscular haemaglobin concentration were not significantly (p>0.05) affected. In conclusion dietary inclusion of Saccharomyces cerevisiae had effect on the rabbits.  Based on the results obtained 2g/kg of Saccharomyces cerevisiae is recommended.