HAEMATOLOGY AND SERUM BIOCHEMISTRY PROFILE OF GROWING RABBITS FED DIETS SUPPLEMENTED WITH ALLIGATOR PEPPER (AFRAMOMUM MELEGUETA) SEED MEAL

Abstract

The ban on the use of antibiotics in livestock production has necessitated the use of alternatives such as plant materials (herbs and spices) to increase feed conversion, enhance growth rate, nutritive value and health status of farm animals. Thirty six rabbits were used to evaluate the haematological and serum biochemical parameters of rabbit fed diets supplemented with Aframomum melegueta. There were four dietary treatments consisting of 0, 0.5, 1 and 1.5% Aframomum melegueta, and the experiment lasted for 49 days. The experiment was performed in three replicates with three per replicate. The rabbits were balanced for weight and complete randomized design (CRD) was used. Parameters measured for this study include Packed cell volume, Red blood cells, mean corspuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean cell volume, mean cell haemoglobin, White blood cells, haemoglobin, granulocytes, lymphocytes, monocytes, Total protein, albumin, globulin, Aspartate aminotransferase, Alanine aminotransferase, creatinine and cholesterol. The result revealed that the MCHC and monocytes were significantly influenced (P<0.05) by the dietary treatment in the blood parameters investigated. Of all the serum metabolite parameters measured only the total protein,
creatinine and cholesterol were significantly (P<0.05) affected by the dietary treatment. It was concluded that the addition of Aframomum melegueta to diets of rabbit does not pose any adverse effect on the blood parameters of the rabbit and could be an indication that their addition enhances optimum nutrient intake by the rabbits.