Effect of Varying Levels of Moringa Olifera Leaf Meal on Performance and Blood Profile of Weaner Rabbits

Forty five, 5-8week old growing rabbits of mixed breed and sex were used in an experiment to evaluate the effect of varying levels of Moringa leaf meal on the performance, nutrient digestibility and blood profile of rabbits. The rabbits were randomly assigned to five treatment group in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) and each treatment was further sub-divided into three replicates. The rabbits were fed growers ration supplemented with Moringa leaf meal at levels of 0 %, 5 %, 10 %, 15 % and 20 % representing treatments 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 respectively. Performance criteria were feed intake, final weight gain and nutrient digestibility while the blood profile include hematological and serum analysis. The result reveals that all the heamatological parameters ( Red blood cell, White blood cell, Mean corpuscular haemoglobin, Mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration & Mean corpuscular volume) and Serum biochemical indices (Albumin, Globulin, Total protein, Alkaline phosphatase, Serum glutamic oxaloacetate transaminase & Serum glutamic pyruvic transaminase) were not significantly (Pgreater than0.05) affected as the level of Moringa leaf meal increased. The results of this experiment demonstrated that the inclusion of Moringa leaf meal at up to 20 % has no deleterious effect on growth, performance and health status of weaner rabbits.