Abstract

There has been an interest in alternative sources in rabbit feeding. Therefore, the current study aimed to estimate the health status, growth performance, hemato-biochemical, and histological picture of some important internal organs in growing Newziland rabbits as a result of replacing different levels of Panicum maximum (PM) in its pelleted diet. A total of 35 weaned rabbits (20 males and 15 females) aged 5 weeks were purchased with an average body weight of 839.7 ± 7.05 g and 771.20 ± 9.19 g for males and females, respectively. Randomly, five equal rabbit groups were formed (7 rabbits in each group). The first group (control) was fed a basal diet without PM. The second, third, fourth, and fifth groups were fed pelleted diets containing PM with a replacing percent of 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of clover hay, respectively. All groups were fed ad libitum of pelleted feed for two months. The blood was aspirated individually three times, including at the beginning of the experiment (as zero time), after one month, and at the end of the experiment, respectively. The whole blood was used for the measurement of hemoglobin concentration, hematocrit percentage, erythrocytes, and total leukocyte counts. At the experimental end, in each group, 3 male rabbits were sacrificed and their internal organs including liver, kidney, cecum, and rectum were collected for histopathology. The live body weight was significantly affected by sex where males were heavier than females, also feed conversion ratio, growth rate, and feed intake were significantly affected by feeding on different levels of PM. Blood hemoglobin, hematocrit, and the total leukocytic count had a non-significant effect while the erythrocyte count increased significantly in all experimental groups. There were insignificant changes in plasma total protein, albumin, globulin, ALT, AST, creatinine, and glucose concentrations when different levels of PM were added. furthermore, the plasma total cholesterol and triglycerides were significantly decreased in rabbits fed PM, 75% and 100% when compared with 25%, 50%, and control groups. Finally, replacement PM instead of clover hay in pelleted diets till 75% was found to be the safety and optimum percentage for biological and healthy rabbits.