Physiological response of rabbit does fed diets supplemented with <i>Moringa oleifera</i> leaf meal

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to assess the effect of Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MoLM) on haematological and biochemical response of gestating does in a 168-days feeding trial. The rabbits were fed varied levels of MoLM at 0, 2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 % to obtain four diets. A total of 40 rabbit does aged 7-8 weeks old were allotted to four treatments in a completely randomized design with 10 replicates per treatment. Blood was sampled from the rabbits during the third trimester of the gestation period (23 weeks into the experiment) for haematological and serum biochemical analyses. Results showed that there were significant (p < 0.05) differences in the values obtained for Packed Cell Volume (PCV), haemoglobin (Hb) and erythrocytes in the gestating does among the treatments. Leucocyte counts were not significantly influenced by dietary treatments. The rabbits does fed diet 2 (2.5% MoLM) had the highest PCV (40.2%) and Hb (13.0 g/100mL) and erythrocyte (6.79 x 10⁶/l) which reduced in does fed 5.0 and 7.5 % MoLM dietary levels. The serum biochemical parameters assessed in the gestating does fed MoLM-based diets were not significantly different from those fed the control diet. Alanine amino Transferase was significantly (p < 0.05) influenced by dietary treatment in the does with the highest mean value recorded in does fed 7.5% MoLM diet (48.2 IU/L) compared to those fed diet 1 with 0% MoLM (19.2 IU/L). Findings from this study suggested that supplemental levels of MoLM up to 7.5% inclusion in rabbit diet may not have adverse effect on the haematology and biochemical response of the gestating does but liver damage may result from prolonged dietary supplementation.

Keywords: Haematology; Serum enzymes; Gestation; Diet Supplementation