Semen Characteristics And Characterization Of Sperm Morphology In Chinchilla And New Zealand White Rabbit Bucks

ABSTRACT

The problem of inadequate or insufficient protein from the traditional livestock cattle, goat and chicken, due to the rapid increase in human population have led to the increased awareness of the advantages of rabbit production among developing countries, especially in Nigeria, with the aim to improve on the productivity of rabbits (Odubote and Akinokun 1991). This is greatly attributed to the high rate of growth and performance of rabbits in terms of early maturity, high fecundity and its prolificacy. In effect, rabbits have been identified as an economy livestock that could bridge the protein intake gap in Nigeria. Rabbit does not compete with humans for feed, but rather depends on man for its feed and can thrive on kitchen waste. The ability of rabbits to convert forage and by-product into meat is more efficient than ruminants in the tropics (Omole, 1982). Rabbit is the bridge between a herbivore and an omnivore (Herbert, 2001), hence can survive on all forage diet, and show optimum performance when concentrates and forage are combined. Ojoko (1988) reported that rabbit meat is good for hypertensive and diabetic patients as the meat contains low cholesterol values of 135mg/100g