Haematologic values of Hyla rabbits fed different levels of by-product arising from the propagation of Pleurotus pulmonarius.

The nutritive influence of different levels of by-product arising from the propagation of the mushroom Pleurotus pulmonarius on the red and white blood cell count of rabbits was studied in the course of fattening. The experiment was carried out on 4 groups of male Hyla rabbits, a control group (C) and 3 experimental groups (E1, E2, E3), with 15 rabbits per group. The control group was fed a standard fodder and the three experimental groups were fed the standard mix with 10%, 20% or 30% dried by-product added, respectively. At the end of the 9th week of the experiment, blood samples were obtained by cardiac puncture, and the red blood cell (RBC) count, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), haemoglobin, haematocrit, thrombocyte count, white blood cell (WBC) count and the differential WBC were determined. The different levels of byproduct interwoven by mycelium added to the feed did not change the RBC count but significantly increased the MCV, MCH, haemoglobin concentration and the haematocrit value. The different diets had no influence on either the WBC count or the differential WBC count, but the number of thrombocytes decreased significantly.