Haematological and Serum Biochemical Indices of West African Dwarf Rams Fed Ensiled Elephant Grass and Gmelina Arborea Leaves

Abstract

In a study to evaluate the haematological parameters and serum indices of rams fed with ensiled Elephant grass and Gmelina arborea leaves, 16 WAD rams were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments for 4 weeks. Each treatment was replicated thrice in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using procedure of SAS (2002); where analysis indicated significant difference, the significant means were compared using the Least Significant Difference method. Water and feed were given ad-libitum. Major parameters measured included: Red Blood Cell (RBC), Packed Cell Volume (PCV), White blood Cell (WBC), Hemoglobin, lymphocytes, neutrophils, monocytes, Total Protein (TP), Alanine aminotransferase (ALT), Aspartate aminotransferase (AST), albumin, glucose, urea, creatinine, cholesterol, High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) and Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL). The four dietary treatments were 80% Elephant grass+ 20% cassava peels+0% Gamhar (T1), 60% Elephant grass+ 20% cassava peels+20% Gamhar (T2), 20% Elephant grass+ 20% cassava peels+60% Gamhar (T3), and 0% Elephant grass+ 20% cassava peels+80% Gamhar (T4). Except for red blood cell (RBC), white blood cell (WBC), monocytes, creatinine, urea and LDL, all the haematological and biochemical parameters measured were significantly (p˂0.05) different across the dietary treatments. It was observed that the ensiled diets offered to the rams did not have deleterious effect on the haematological and serum biochemical indices as the values registered across the dietary treatments falls within the normal ranges. It was concluded that all four test diets were suitable for dry season ram feeding and that Gmelina arborea could be included in ram diets up to 80% without any harmful effect on their haematological and serum biochemical profile.