Paper Title
Gonadal and Extra-Gonadal Sperm Characteristics of Rabbit Bucks Fed with Diets Containing Raw or Fermented Cotton Seed Cake Supplemented with Ginger (Zingiber Officinale Roscoe)

Abstract
The potential of cottonseed cake (CSC) as a veritable source of protein, energy and fibre for farm animals has been demonstrated. However, its use is limited to ruminant feeding due to the presence of gossypol, a polyphenolic compound of significant physiological implications. Fermentation is one of the biotechnological methods for detoxifying a variety of feed ingredients. This study investigated the effect of raw or fermented CSC – based diets with or without ginger supplementation on gonadal and extra-gonadal sperm characteristics of rabbit bucks. Thirty (30) cross-bred (New Zealand White X Chinchilla) bucks, 6 -7 weeks old averagely weighing 768.54g, were randomly assigned to five dietary treatments (n = 6 per treatment) in a 2 X 2 factorial within a completely randomized design (CRD). The CSC replaced soyabean meal (SBM) at 0% (control) and 100% (Raw or Fermented) with or without ginger supplementation (30mg/kg feed). Animals were fed for 12 weeks and slaughtered. Their reproductive organs were processed for sperm evaluation. Raw CSC without ginger supplementation resulted in lower (p<0.05) sperm concentration, Gonadal Sperm Reserve (GSR) and Daily Sperm Production (DSP); and higher (p<0.05) dead sperm than other treatments. The sperm concentration (69.33 X 106/ml), motile sperm (79.97%), GSR (66.44 X 106) and extra-gonadal sperm reserve (109.98 X 106) were highest for bucks that consumed fermented CSC with ginger supplementation. This study shows that total replacement of SBM with raw CSC reduced sperm quality in rabbit bucks. This adverse effect was corrected by a combination of fermentation and ginger supplementation. Keywords- Rabbit, Cottonseed cake, Fermentation, Ginger, Sperm characteristics