Performance and Haematological Parameters of Rabbits fed graded levels of Bitter kola (Garcinia kola)

Abstract

The need to reduce cost of production of meat animal has necessitated the use of plant materials with medicinal properties as feed additives capable of minimizing the influence of pathogenic microbes and improving performance of the animal. This study investigated the effect of such medicinal plant materials Garcinia kola on the growth performance and the haematological parameters of 20 weeks old rabbits. Thirty six rabbits of mixed breed and mixed sexed were used for the experiment, which lasted for eight weeks (56 days). The rabbits were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments: T 1 with no (0%), T 2 (2.5%), T 3 (5%) and T 4 (7.5%) of G. kola inclusion. The rabbits were housed in 2m × 1m × 1m cages per three rabbits in a 4 × 3 CRD experimental design whereby each treatment had three replicates, with each replicate having 4 rabbits and each treatment comprised 12 rabbits. During the eight week period of the experiment, feed and water were given ad libtum and while similar managerial and sanitary measures were applied for all the animals. Daily feed intake and growth performance of animals in each unit were monitored. At the beginning and the end of the experiment, blood samples were collected from the ear and analyzed for haematological parameters Hb, PCV, RBC, WBC and Plasma proteins). The result showed that G. kola has significant effect on the feed intake, growth rate, haemoglobin, PCV, RBC, WBC and Plasma protein. The feed intake decreased in all rabbits on G. kola treated feeds; numerical values obtained were 332 ± 0.32, 285 ± 0.52, 288 ± 0.12 and 262 ± 0.33 g/week for treatment 1, 2, 3, 4 respectively. Weight depression was also observed similarly in all the rabbits on Garcinia treated feeds with T2 having weight loss of 0.36 ± 0.11, T30.35 ± 0.12 and T4 0.64 ± 0.10kg. Rabbits on Garcinia treated feeds also have lower Hb, PCV, Plasma proteins and higher WBC and RBC compared to the initial values showing G. kola. G. kola appear to contain substances which depress feed intake and growth performance and the effect seem to increase with higher concentration. However, the RBC and WBC increased, it is therefore recommended that the use of G. kola should be at low levels of inclusion or intermittently not continuous.Key words: Garcinia kola, growth performance, rabbits. INTRODUCTIONTraditional animal healthcare practices involving use of some materials and herbal preparations called ethnoveterinary medicine is fast gaining grounds in the livestock industry especially in African and Asian countries (Ebenebe et al., 2010; Ojelade, 2015) as they provide readily available and low cost alternative to orthodox medicine. Of the herbal drug, the use of garlic (Allium sativum), ginger (Zingiber officinale), neem tree leaves (Azadiractha indica) and most recently bitter kola (Garcinia kola) have been reported in livestock health care management (Ebenebe et al., 2010; Esonu 2006, Owen and Amakiri 2013and Obun et al., 2013. Garcinia kola is a dicotyledonous belonging to the family Guttiferae or Clusiaceae and is widely...

Dietary effects of Garcinia kola seed meal on growth performance, hematology and serum biochemical parameters of weaned rabbits

“…Hence, the lower RBCs and Hb values recorded for the control rabbits may be due to the stress associated with anti-nutritional factors, which often cause depletion in the oxygen-carrying capacity of the animal's blood, leading to an impaired growth response [61]. Our result is contrary to the findings of Ebenebe et al [51], who reported a reduction in the Hb values among rabbits fed with GKS diets. The reports of Udenze et al [58] also did not align with our current findings.…”

“…Rabbits that received higher dietary levels (3% and 4.5%) of GKSM had reduced ADWG than the control (Table-4). Ebenebe et al [51] reported that as the dietary inclusion levels of G. kola increased from 2.5% to 7.5%, the weight gain of the rabbits was significantly depressed. Higher levels of GKSM had been previously reported to have growth-depressing effects on rabbits [31,52] and broiler birds [30].…”

“…Hence, it is difficult to attribute the concentration of tannins to the low AFBW and ADWG observed at 3% and 4.5% levels of GKSM inclusion in this study. Nonetheless, Ebenebe et al [51] reported that apart from the percentage inclusion level, the feeding duration of GKSM to animals may also contribute to its growth-depressing effect.…”

Neem, pawpaw and bamboo leaf meal dietary supplementation in broiler chickens: Effect on performance and health status

“…Blood indices are major tools for assessing the physiological, pathological and nutritional status of animals. Haematological traits are strongly influenced by diets and the existence of the correlation between performance and haematological traits has been reported by Ebenebe, Nwankwor, Izukanne, and Ufele (2016). Also, the immunomodulatory properties of herbs were reported by Oloruntola et al (2016b).…”