EFFECT OF BREED AND SEX ON THERMO-REGULATORY PARAMETERS OF RABBITS IN NASARAWA STATE NIGERIA
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33003/jaat.2024.1003.06Keywords:
Breed,, sex,, thermo-regulatory,, rabbits,, NigeriaAbstract
The study was conducted to determine the effect of breed and sex on thermo-regulatory parameters of rabbits. A total of fifty-four weaner rabbits made up of three breeds comprising of twenty-seven males and twenty-seven females each were procured from National Veterinary Research Institute (NVRI) Vom, Jos, Plateau State, Nigeria and used for the experiment. The rabbits were managed using standard procedure. Six (3 males and females each) of each of the rabbit breeds were assigned using Complete Randomized Design and replicated three times. The thermo-regulatory parameters collected were respiratory rate, heart rate, rectal temperature and ear temperature. Data collected were analyzed using SPSS statistical package version 21. Results obtained indicated that breed had effect (p<0.05) on respiratory rate (39.56±0.54- 42.23±0.54) and ear temperature (38.10±0.09-39.38±0.09) and sex had no significant (p>0.05) effect in all the thermo-regulatory parameters measured. It can be concluded that any of the sex can be reared in the study area. However, Dutch and Chinchilla breeds adapt more compared to New Zealand White based on the respiratory rate
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