Hematology and Serum Biochemistry of Growing West African Dwarf Goats Fed Cassava Peel with Supplemental Nitrogen Sources

Abstract

A 60-day feeding trial was conducted with 40 growing West African Dwarf bucks aged 5–7 months with an initial average weight of 5.25 kg ± 0.35 to determine their hematological and serum biochemical parameters. The goats were randomly allocated to five treatments namely: T1 (100% urea-treated cassava peel), T2 (60% untreated cassava peel + 40% cassava foliage), T3 (60% untreated cassava peel + 40% poultry manure), T4 (60% untreated cassava peel + 20% cassava foliage + 20% treated cassava peel), and T5 (60% untreated cassava peel + 20% cassava foliage + 20% poultry manure) in a complete randomized design. Each treatment was split into eight replicates. At the end of the feeding trial, blood samples were collected from four goats per treatment to evaluate the following hematological indices: packed cell volume (PCV), red blood cell (RBC), white blood cell (WBC), hemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH), and MCH concentration (MCHC). Serum parameters determined were total protein (g/dL), albumin (g/dL), globulin (g/dL), creatinine (mg/dL), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) (iu/L), alanine transaminase (ALT) (iu/L), aspartate aminotransferase (AST) (iu/L), and urea (iu/L). PCV, RBC and WBC showed significant (P<0.05) difference among the treatment groups while other haematological parameters examined showed no significant differences (P>0.05). Serum biochemical parameters indicated that total protein ranged from 4.10 to 5.18 g/dL, albumin: 1.90–2.55 g/dL, creatinine: 0.08–1.28 mg/dL, ALP: 53.18–96.95 iu/L, ALT: 138.75–176.50 iu/L, globulin: 2.20–3.03 iu/L, AST: 16.18–17.58 iu/L, and urea: 17.60–23.75 iu/L. All the values obtained for hematological and serum biochemical parameters were within the normal ranges for growing goats. This indicates that feeding of cassava peel with supplemental nitrogen sources had no deleterious effect on the body physiology and health of the animals.