%0 Journal Article
%T Effect of Sweet Orange Fruit Waste Diets and Acidifier on Haematology and Serum Chemistry of Weanling Rabbits
%A Oluremi Martha Daudu
%A Rahamatu Usman Sani
%A Iyetunde Ifeyori Adedibu
%A Lawrence Anebi Ademu
%A Gideon Shaibu Bawa
%A Taiye Sunday Olugbemi
%J Journal of Veterinary Medicine
%D 2014
%R 10.1155/2014/421382
%X A total of thirty-five mixed breed (35) rabbits of average weight of 700£żg aged 5-6 weeks were allocated to seven treatments in a completely randomised design to investigate the effect of sweet orange fruit waste (SOFW) and acidomix acidifier on haematology and serum chemistry. The diets were 0% SOFW, 10% SOFW with 0.5% acidomix, 10% SOFW with 0.7 acidomix, 15% SOFW with 0.5% acidifier, 15% SOFW with 0.7% acidifier, 20% SOFW with 0.5% acidifier, and 20% SOFW with 0.7% acidifier. Blood samples were analyzed for haemoglobin (hb) concentration, white blood cells (WBC), red blood cells (RBC), differential WBC count (lymphocyte, basophil, eosinophil, monocyte, and neutrophil), alanine amino transferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), aspartate amino transferase (AST), total protein, albumin, and globulin. There was no interaction between SOFW and acidifier for the haematological and most of the serum chemistry parameters but significant difference was observed in ALT; however the values were within the normal range. SOFW had no significant effect on all haematological and serum chemistry parameters. Acidomix had significant effect ( ) on haemoglobin concentration; rabbits fed 0.5% acidomix diets had higher values which were within the normal range. It is therefore concluded that SOFW with acidifier up to 20% had no detrimental effect on serum chemistry and haematology. 1. Introduction Rabbit production has a considerable potential in the developing countries for the supply of the much needed animal protein due to low capital investment and space requirement, short generation interval, rapid growth rate, high proliferation, and use of agricultural by-products Cheeke [1]. Feed is the single largest expense in livestock production which constitutes about 70% of the total cost of rabbit production Oyawoye and Nelson [2]. Maize grain is the major source of energy in rabbit feeds in Nigeria, usually accounting for over 40% of the diet [3, 4]. Rabbit production for fast meat yield is affected by inadequate and high cost of feed ingredients and brought about mainly by the stiff competition between man and monogastric animals for grain and oil seeds Agunbiade et al. [5]. A lot of research work has been conducted in Nigeria in an effort to substitute maize with cheaper and readily available ingredients in order to reduce cost and overdependence on this feedstuff for rabbit feeding. Many of these alternative feed stuffs are by-products and edible waste products from food processing, food preparation and food services industries, and bio fuel industries. Nigeria
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jvm/2014/421382/