– Ettu, R. O., Ikotun, T . O., Kassim, H.G. and Mako, A. A.
Abstract
The experiment was done to investigate the haematological and biochemical parameters of male New Zealand white rabbit fed dates (Phoenix dactylifera) based diets. Sixteen (16) male rabbits were used for the experiment and were randomly allocated to four groups with three replicates in a complete randomized block design. Group A was fed with 500 g growers’ mash (control). Group B ate 375 g growers’ mash plus 125 g of Date fruits, Group C fed with 250 g of growers’ mash plus 250 g plus 250 g of Date fruits and Group D consumed 125 g of growers’ mash plus 375 g of Date fruits. The Parked Cell Volume (PCV), Haemoglobin (HB), Red Blood Cell (RBC) and White Blood Cell (WBC) values were higher in treatment 3 (250 g growers mash plus 250 g Date fruits) while the lowest value was obtained in treatment 4 (375 g Date fruits plus 125 g growers mash). The values obtained were not significantly (p<0.05) different from each other. The biochemical parameter measured followed the same pattern with no significant (p>0.05) difference. The inclusion of dates in compounded ration improved most the parameters measured especially at 50% inclusion.