EFFECT OF AQUEOUS EXTRACT OF WATERMELON PULP ON THE MORPHOMETRIC CHARACTERISTICS OF RABBIT (Oryctolagus cuniculus) REPRODUCTIVE TRACT

Abstract

The effect of aqueous extract of watermelon pulp on the morphometric characteristics of 40 matured mixed breeds of rabbit about 1200-1400g (comprising of 20 bucks, 20 does) reproductive tract was investigated. Watermelon pulp extract was at zinclusion levels of 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 g per 80-ml of water. The rabbits were randomly allocated to five treatments comprising of four replicates per treatment at two rabbits per replicate making eight rabbits per treatment in a completely randomized design. Feeds were given ad-libitum for twelve weeks and water was provided daily for 20 hours while for the remaining hours of the day (4 hours), they were deprived of water so that they can take of the treatment dosage. At the end of the experiment, 4 rabbits (2 bucks and 2 does) were randomly selected from each treatment. The animals were sacrificed and eviscerated for reproductive organ weight determination. Data obtained were subjected to the analysis of variance (ANOVA) following completely randomized. design. Duncan’s Multiple Range Test, Duncan (1955) was used to determine the significant differences (p<0.05) among treatments means. The experimental results showed that the inclusion level of aqueous extract of watermelon pulp at 5 g per 80-ml of water produced the best performance in terms of reproductive organ weight and length for both the rabbit bucks and does. From the results obtained it is observed that inclusion of aqueous extract of watermelon pulp at 5 g per 80-ml water will lead to increased productivity in rabbit breeding programmes, however higher levels may result in decrease performance and should not be encouraged.