Productive Performance and Blood Profile of Weaner Rabbit Fed Different Inclusion Levels of Ipomoea asarifolia Leaf Meal in Replacement of Soybean Meal

In an experiment to determine the effect of feeding graded levels of Ipomoea asarifolia Leaf Meal (IALM) on the growth, heamatology and serum chemistry of rabbits in the tropics, twenty-four (24) weaned male rabbits, 6-8 weeks old, were randomly allotted to four (4) dietary treatments in which IALM was used to replaced soybean meal (SBM) at 0% (control), 10%, 20%, and 30% with six (6) rabbits per treatment in a completely randomized design experiment. Each rabbit constituted a replicate. Feed and water were offer ad libitum while other standard management practices were meticulously observed. The Proximate analysis of the diets and leaf was determined according to the AOAC [1] for crude protein, crude fibre, ether extract (fat) and ash while haematological analysis was done using Sysmex KX-21N automated analyzer and while serum parameters were analyzed following standard procedure. The data obtained were subjected to one-way analysis of variance in a completely randomized design experiment. The IALM had average crude fibre percentage of 7.15%, while crude protein, ash, ether extract and metabolisable energy were 28.40%, 11.00%, 7.10%, 3236.15 KcalKg) respectively. All growth parameters were affected by IALM except weight gained and FCR. Haematological and serological parameters measured at the end of 8 weeks of feeding indicated significant (P<0.05) variations in, mean cell haemoglobin (MCH) and alkaline phosphatase, cholesterol, globulin, platelet, white blood cell count (WBC) and total serum proteins with variations in the level of dietary IALM. The aspartate amino acid, alanine amino acid, red blood cell count, mean cell volume (MCV), and intermediate cell count were, however, unaffected (P>0.05) by variations in the level of dietary IALM.