Abstract

Rabbit is an herbivorous animal habitually practicing caprophagy which synergistically works along with the large bacteria population in the gut to efficiently digest roughages and other plant materials especially green vegetables. This study was conducted to assess the effect of Alchornea cordifolia leaf meal (ACLM), Pawpaw leaf meal (PLM) and a mixture of these leaf meals (ACLM+PLM) on the microbial contents of the gut of rabbits. Twenty four rabbits were used for this study and randomly allocated to four treatments. The treatment were designated as T1 (control), T2 (Alchornea cordifolia), T3 (Pawpaw leaf meal) and T4 (mixture of Alchornea cordifolia and Pawpaw leaf meal). Results showed that total heterotrophic bacteria (THB) counts and coliforms were respectively recorded in the range of 1793 – 2720 cfu/g and 111.67 – 189.00 cfu/g (Ileum), 13600 -18700 cfu/g and 1706.67 – 2140.00 cfu/g (caecum) and 69666 – 250666 cfu/g and 11700.00 - 24333.33 cfu/g (fecal materials). The microbial populations fluctuate between the control and the various treatments in both THB and coliform. The microbial counts increased from the proximal (ileum) to the distal (caecum) sections of the rabbits’ gut.