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Infection due to Salmonella spp is one of the threatening diseases to poultry industry because it can cause economic losses through mortality, morbidity and reduction in egg production. One hundred and sixty poults comprising 80 local and 80 exotic (Nicholas white) were used to examine the variations in haematological response to Salmonella spp in local and exotic turkeys inoculated with attenuated Salmonella spp. Both genotypes were reared separately on deep litter, under the same management practices and wing tagged for proper identification. At 7th week of age, 1ml of blood sample was collected from each turkey into anticoagulant tubes and labeled accordingly for base-line haematological analysis. The turkeys were inoculated at 8th week by subcutaneous injection of attenuated Salmonella vaccine at 0.5ml per turkey. On the 2nd and 7th days after inoculation, 1ml of blood samples was collected from each turkey for haematological analyses. The un-coagulated blood was used to determine packed cell volume (PCV), red blood cell (RBC), white blood cell (WBC) and its differential counts, and haemoglobin (Hb). The mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were calculated. The haematological data collected were analyzed using General Linear Model of SAS 9.0 software. The exotic turkey had higher (p<0.05) values of PCV (38.13±1.01), Hb (12.77±0.33gd/l), MCV (133.39±0.14fL) and MCH (43.35±1.27pg/cell) before inoculation. On 2nd day post inoculation, the local turkey had higher (P<0.05) values of PCV (43.93±1.40%), RBC (3.98±0.12 106µl-1) and Hb (14.56±0.47gd/l). Also, on the seventh day post inoculation, the local turkey had higher (P<0.05) values of PCV (42.13±1.20%), WBC (11.94±0.62 103.µ-1), Hb (14.09±0.38 gd/l) and MCH (40.65±0.34pg/cell). The mean values of PCV, Hb, MCV, MCH and MCHC of local turkeys were higher (p<0.05) on the 7th day than on the 2nd day post inoculation, while the RBC was higher (P<0.05) on the 2nd day post inoculation. The WBC, MCV and MCH values were higher (p<0.05) in exotic turkey on the 2nd day post inoculation. The local turkey showed quick haematological response to Salmonella vaccine especially post inoculation. Therefore, the local turkey could be said to have stronger potential to survive under disease prevailing environment than the exotic turkey.

Haematological and serum biochemical parameters are indicators of physiological, nutritional and pathological status of animals. Investigation of these parameters provide information for diagnostic purposes. The study was conducted to determine the influence of feeding graded levels of yam peel meal (YPM) as a replacement for maize on haematology; blood chemistry was evaluated in rabbits. Thirty- six (New Zealand white X Chinchilla) were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments in a completely randomized design with nine rabbits per treatment. The rabbits were fed diets containing 0, 12.5, 25 and 37.5% of Yam peel meal (YPM) as a replacement for maize, designated as T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively. The experimental diets and clean drinking water were supplied ad libitum throughout the experimental period of nine weeks. At the end of the feeding trial, three rabbits per treatment were randomly selected for hematological and serum biochemical analysis. All the haematological and serum biochemical indices except AST were affected (P<0.05) by dietary inclusion of YPM. Although most of the parameters investigated were affected by rabbits fed test ingredient, the values fell within the normal literature reference values for rabbits. It can therefore be concluded that up to 37.5% inclusion level of YPM can be fed to growing rabbits without deleterious effects on health status.

Semen and Testicular traits were measured on 54 matured rabbits aged 10 -12 months and weighed between 2.20 -2.26 kg and data were used to determine the influence of genotypes on g semen, libido and testicular evaluation. The genotypes used are Chinchilla (CHIN), New Zealand White (NZW) and New Zealand Red (NZR). The experiment was randomized complete design with genotype as the factor of interest. Traits measured were Volume, motility, concentration, pH and colour. Feed and water were served ad libitum throughout the 16 weeks experimental period. At the end of the trial, 8 rabbits per genotype were slaughtered and their reproductive organs were carefully dissected out and separated into different components. The testicular morphometry and sperm characteristics were evaluated. There were significant differences (P < 0.05) among the genotypes for semen evaluation Volume values were 0.59,0.72 and 0.52,motility 85.08, 87.27 and 86.24 respectively for Libido value are , 4.25, 4.45 and 4.31 respectively and Testicular trait studied. New Zealand White (NZW) was significantly superior (P < 0.05) to other genotypes for most of the parameters studied, followed by New Zealand Red (NZR). The study is aimed at breeds effect on testicular morphometry and sperm characteristics. This result shows that breeds can be of effect on testicular morphometry and sperm quality of male rabbits.

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