Growth performance, hematology and serum biochemical indices of growing rabbits fed diets containing graded levels of <i>Cola rostrata</i> (monkey cola) seed meal

Abstract

The study investigated the growth performance, hematology and serum biochemical indices of growing rabbits fed diets containing graded levels of Cola rostrata (monkey cola) seed meal (CRSM). Sixty (60) six to seven weeks old cross breed (Chinchilla and New Zealand white) growing rabbits were grouped into six treatments, and each treatment had two replicates containing five 5 rabbits per replicate in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Diets containing 0, 20, 40, 60, 80 and 100 percent of CRSM were formulated and denoted as T₁, T₂, T₃, T₄, T₅, and T₆ respectively. T₁ and T₂ had significantly (p<0.05) higher feed intake than other treatment groups. The final body weight, total weight gain and feed conversion ratio of the animals on T₃ (40% inclusion level of Cola rostrata) were significantly higher than the control and other treatment groups. T₃ and T₄ had significantly (p<0.05) higher values for PCV, Hemoglobin, red blood cells, total protein, albumin and globulin. T₃ also had significantly (p<0.05) lower urea and creatinine levels than other treatments. The ALT, AST and Cholesterol values obtained in this study were statistically (p<0.05) higher for T₁ than the groups with CRSM, while serum glucose was statistically (p<0.05) higher for T₃ than other treatment groups. In conclusion, for improved feed conversion ratio, enhanced serum protein bio-availability that would culminate in better final body weight and body weight of growing rabbits, diet that contains 40% Cola rostrata a replacement for maize, is recommended.