Age at puberty in rabbit – bucks (New Zealand and Chinchilla) fed mistletoe leaf meal by the penile smear techniques in a humid tropical environment

The study evaluated the effects of mistletoe (Viscum album L.) leaf meal inclusions on growth rate, age and body weight at puberty in rabbit-bucks in a humid tropical environment using penile smear technique. Thirty-five rabbit bucks with mean age and body weight of 72± 5.14 days and 680.2g ± 6.08 were used for the six months study. Animals were randomized in a 3 x 2 factorial design with three (3) diets levels of mistletoe leaf meal inclusion and two (2) levels of mistletoe on host tree (“A” pear and “B” citrus – (sweet orange). The diets had highly significant (P < 0.05) effect on growth and body weight at puberty of the rabbit bucks. The study revealed the overall mean age and live weights at puberty were 118± 4. 48 days and 1689 ± 70.68g respectively. Results suggest that puberty was affected more by chronological age than physiological development of the rabbits. However, it also shows that, nutrition can be related to the age at puberty in animal since age of puberty is directly related to body weight when fed balanced diet. The study showed that mistletoe leaf meal is a good feed source for rabbit production. It is therefore recommended that for improved growth, up to 15% mistletoe leaf meal should be included in rabbit diets, especially during dry season of forage scarcity.