Veterinary Archives, Vol. 81 No. 4, 2011.
Original scientific paper
Changes in haematological and biochemical diagnostic parameters of Red Sokoto goats fed tannin-rich Pterocarpus erinaceus forage diets.
Olurotimi A. Olafadehan
; Department of Animal Science, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria
Abstract
A study was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding with a Pterocarpus erinaceus (PE) based diet on the haematological and biochemical diagnostic parameters to assess goat health. Twenty-five Red Sokoto goats of about 5 months old were submitted to one of the five diets containing two sole forage diets, 100% Andropogon gayanus (AG) and 100% PE and three mixed forage diets; 25% PE and 75% AG, 50% PE and 50% AG and 75% PE and 25% AG for 84 days in a completely randomized design. Packed cell volume, red blood cell, white blood cell, lymphocyte and monocyte counts were lower ((P<0.05) in goats fed the sole forage diet of PE than those fed the sole forage diet of AG and mixed forage diets, whereas other haematological parameters were similar among the diets. Serum urea levels varied among the diets; the rank order was: sole forage diet of AG > sole forage diet of PE > mixed forage diets (all P<0.05). Glucose levels were higher (P<0.05) in the mixed forage diets than the two sole forage diets, which were similar. Goats fed the sole diet of AG had lower (P<0.05) total protein and albumin levels than those fed other dietary treatments. Apart from the serum Mg level which was outstandingly affected and lower (P<0.05) in the sole diet of AG, other serum minerals were similar among the diets. Since all the studied blood parameters were within the normal range for healthy goats and there were no signs of tannin toxicity, it is concluded that a dietary tannin concentration of 60 g/kg and intake of 1.4 g/kg b.m.. did not pose any threat to the health of the animals under the conditions of the experiment.
Keywords
blood metabolic profile; Andropogon gayanus; Pterocarpus erinaceus; tannins; toxicity; goats
Hrčak ID:
70933
URI
Publication date:
20.7.2011.
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