Physiological Response of Red Sokoto Bucks to Graded Levels of Ensiled Ammoniated Groundnut Shell Meal.

Abstract:

The study assessed the physiological parameters of Red Sokoto Bucks as affected by diets containing graded levels of ensiled ammoniated groundnut shell meal (EAGNSM). Twenty (20) Red Sokoto Bucks used for the study were divided into five groups of four animals each; with an average weight of 9.80± 2.30kg. The groups were randomly assigned to one of the five treatment diets designated as T1 (0 % EAGNSM), T2 (5% EAGNSM), T3 (10% EAGNSM), T4 (15% EAGNSM) and T5 (20% EAGNSM). The animals were offered the basal diet: 500g of Fresh Maliana leaves (Gmelina arborea)) every morning (9.00am); followed by the experimental diets based on 4% body weight of the animals in the afternoon (12pm). Drinking water was provided ad libitum. Blood samples were collected from the jugular vein of the bucks at the beginning and 60th day of the feeding trial for determination of haematological and serum indices. The results reveal that, packed cell volume (PCV) at the end of the study significantly (P< 0.05) improved over the initial values except for T5. The AST values which were significantly different at the beginning of the study increased and were not significantly different at the end of the experiment. Alanine transaminase (ALT), Total Protein, Albumin, Cholesterol, Creatinine and Urea which were not significantly different at the beginning of the study differed significantly at the end of the experiment. The difference between the initial and final values of AST, ALT, Cholesterol and Urea were significant (P< 0.05) across the treatments. However, the values obtained were within the normal reference range except for ALT which were above for goats. It could be concluded that inclusion of EAGNSM in the diet of Red Sokoto Bucks had no deleterious effect on the haematological and serum biochemistry parameters evaluated and could be included in their diets up to 20%.