Paul Aduba

The levels of serum biochemical indices have a direct association with the status and performance of animals at every given stage of its life. The current study was carried out in the University of teaching and research farm, Benin City to evaluate the relationship between some breed of rabbit, some biochemical parameters and weight of kits. The experimental animals were Dutch and Zealand white rabbits. The design used for the experiment was Completely Randomized Design. Biochemical parameters measured where body weight of kits ALP, ALT and AST levels. The data collected were subjected to one way statistical analysis of variance. The results showed that ALP, ALT and AST levels were significantly affected (P<0.05) by breeds of rabbits. Dutch does had higher values for ALP (20U/L), ALT (17U/L) and AST (12.5U/L) compared to NewZealand does which recorded lowest for ALP (15U/L), ALT (5U/L) and AST (6U/L). All measured biochemical parameters of Dutch and NewZealand does had no significant effect (P>0.05) on body weight of kits. Body weight of NewZealand kits were numerically but not statistically higher than Dutch kits. The results showed that NewZealand kits recorded highest for body weight at week 6 (551.67), week 7 (576.67), week 8 (604.00), week 9 (631.67) and week 10 (641.67) compared to Dutch kits which recorded lowest for body weight at 6th (506.67), 7th 548.00), 8th (575.00), 9th (595.83 + 30.25) and 10th week (635.33) respectively. It was obtain from this study that the breed of an animal can significantly affect the levels of some biochemical parameters such as ALP, ALT and AST. Recommended as a result of this study is that NewZealand rabbits should be the genotype of choice for broiler rabbit production and the nee for more needed attention to be paid to the biochemical indices in animals