Feed restriction, vitamin e inclusion during pregnancy, effect on haematological parameters of gestating rabbit does

Blood parameters are good indices used in confirming health, physical status of animals and are of ecological significance in understanding the relationships between blood parameters and environment conditions. Thus this study aimed to examine whether feed restriction during pregnancy with or without vitamin E could have any detrimental effect or pose any danger to blood parameters of pregnant rabbits does. A total of Seventy five (75) rabbits consisting of sixty (60) 5 months old rabbit does of different breeds (Chinchilla, Dutch, New Zealand) with initial live weight of 1.7-2.0 kg were randomly allotted into 12 treatments of 5 replicates each during pregnancy period. The rabbit does were subjected to two levels of feed restriction (0% and 15%) at three different periods of gestation (15-19days, 20-24days and 25-29days) with or without vitamin E inclusion (0 and 300mg/kg). Data obtained on haematological indices were subjected to Analysis of Variance in a completely randomized design. Results obtained showed that Ad libitum feeding with vitamin E inclusion significantly (p