Abstract

This study determined the dietary effect of cocoa pod husk meal (CPHM) on the reproductive performance of rabbits. Twelve iso-nitrogenous (16.05% CP) and iso–caloric (2500.12 Kcal kg-1 ME) diets were formulated. The CPHM was included at 0, 12.5, 25 and 37.5% levels for T1, T2, T3, and T4 raw; T5, T6, T7, T8 fermented and T9, T10, T11, T12 hot–water treated CPHM. Sixty weaned rabbits between 5 and 6 weeks old of both sexes (30 males and 30 females) with mean initial body weight of 606.42±1.30g were used. The rabbits were randomly distributed using a completely randomized design (CRD). The animals were crossed at maturity for reproductive performance evaluation. Total protein concentrations of reproductive parts were determined. Result showed no significant dietary effect on reproductive performance. The 37.5% level recorded zero pregnancy in the raw and hot–water groups. Average gestation period ranged between 30 and 31 days. Average litter size at birth ranged 1 – 4 kittens. Average weaning weight ranged between 475 and 580.25g with the least weight in the raw group. Milk yield ranged between 205.46 and 262.94g. The sperm volume and gonadal sperm reserve recorded significant effect (P<0.05). In the raw and hot–water groups, the sperm volume decreased marginally. The protein concentration in the testes recorded higher significant (P<0.05) values in the control diet and the least value in raw group. The study concluded that fermented CPHM diets performed best at 37.5% level in terms of reproductive performance of rabbits.