Abstract
Rabbit production is known to be affected greatly by the climatic conditions of an area, especially those of the tropics. A study was conducted between the months of February and May to investigate the effect of feeding graded levels of sun-dried Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MOLM) on the reproductive performance of cross-bred rabbit does in the Southern part of Nigeria. A total of sixteen (16) mature cross-bred Chinchilla and New Zealand White rabbit does were used for the experiment that lasted for 73 days (31 days for pregnancy and 42 days for lactation). Four (4) dietary treatments were formulated with, 0, 20, 40, and 60 percent levels of MOLM. The experimental animals were grouped into four after weight equalisation and were randomly allotted to the four dietary treatments, T1, T2, T3 and T4 respectively in a Completely Randomised Design (CRD). Each rabbit was housed in an independent cell and taken as a replica. Data obtained from the study were subjected to Analysis of Variance. The results indicated that body weights (1930, 2080, 2150, 2240 for T1, T2, T3, T4 respectively) of the pregnant and lactating does significantly (P<0.05) increase with increasing levels of the MOLM. A significant (P<0.05) increase in litter size was observed in T4 during kindling. Higher litter birth weights were recorded in the control (T1) and T2, while higher weaning and body weight gains were recorded in the T4 and T3 treatments. The survivability of the kittens was observed to increase with higher inclusion levels of MOLM. Following the increased reproductive performance of rabbits fed the graded levels of MOLM, it is concluded that, MOLM could be fed to rabbits up to 60%, especially does, at pregnancy and during lactation in the southern part of Nigeria.