Semen characteristics of rabbit bucks fed cottonseed cake diets supplemented with sausage fruits (Kigelia africana)

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of sausage fruits (Kigelia africana) on semen characteristics of rabbit bucks fed cottonseed cake (CSC) based diets. Sixty (60) rabbit bucks, 7-8 weeks old with an average weight of 868.52 g of heterogeneous population were randomly assigned to five dietary treatments with twelve animals per treatment in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) experiment. The CSC replaced soybean meal (SBM) at 0% (T1) and 100% in the other four treatments. Treatment two (T2) was CSC without Kigelia africana supplementation. Treatment three (T3) was supplemented with powder of Kigelia africana fruits at 100 g/100kg feed. Treatment four (T4) received an aqueous extract of Kigelia africana fruits supplementation at 100 mg/bodyweight). Treatment five (T5) was a combined blend mixture of powder and extract of Kigelia africana fruits at 100 mg/body weight. Animals were fed for 14 weeks after which semen was collected through artificial virginal techniques for evaluation. Parameters evaluated were sperm count, semen volume, semen colour, live sperm, dead sperm, abnormal sperm, sperm morphology, gonadal sperm reserve (GSR), extra-gonadal sperm reserve (EGSR), and daily sperm production (DSP). Results showed that rabbit bucks fed T2 had significantly (p≤0.05) lower sperm count and sperm volume whereas bucks fed T3 revealed a significantly (p≤0.05) higher sperm count and sperm volume. Detached head, mid-piece and curve tail were significantly (p≤0.05) higher in T2 while lower (p≤0.05) in supplemented treatment groups. It was concluded that powder of kigelia africana fruits supplementation to CSC diets ameliorated the adverse effect of CSC-gossypol in rabbits buck than extract and blend mixture of Kigelia africana fruits. Rabbit bucks intended for breeding purposes should not be fed CSC unless supplemented with Kigelia africana fruits.