ABSTRACT
The increasing pressure on the use of cereals by the human population and livestock feed millers, coupled with a deficit of animal protein intake, especially in developing countries necessitate the use of unconventional feedstuffs for livestock production. One such feedstuff is lemon grass which has been successfully incorporated into diets not only for ruminants but also for non-ruminants to replace maize completely.The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of lemon grass feed additive and haematological and serum biochemical parameters of WestAfrican dwarf goats fed basal diet of guinea grass and concentrate supplements.Fifteen West African Dwarf goats (does) with average weight of 6.142 kg were randomly assigned to three experimental diet consisting of lemon grass powder. The experiment was carried out using a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). The goats were randomly allocated to three treatments, Treatment 1 (T1) without lemongrass powder additive, Treatment 2 (T2) with lemongrass powder additive at 5% inclusion level.Treatment 3 (T3) with lemongrass at 10% inclusion level. With five (5) animals per treatment.The feed intake was calculated daily and the animals were weighed weekly.The dry matter values ranges from (91.38-92.54%), protein content (14.12%) ash content between treatment 1 (5.76%), 2 (4.91) and 3 (6.42%). The ether extract content of treatment 2 (20.34%) increased as a result of the increased level of LGP.The crude fibre content(14.03-19.23%).NFE content (42.87-50.36%).organic matter contents of the diets were adequate to support the growth and maintenance of WAD goats
Blood samples were collected at the end of the study and evaluated for haematological indices (packed cell volume (PCV), red blood cell (RBC), white blood cell(WBC),haemoglobin, mean corpuscular volume (MCV), mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), Mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC), platelet (PLT), neutophils, basophils and eosinophils and serum parameters (glucose, total protein, albumin, globulin, creatinine, urea, sodium, potassium and bicarbonate).Serum biochemical parameters indicated that glucose ranged from 60.5-67.0g/dL, total protein 8.2–7.6 g/dL, albumin 3.50–3.43g/dL, creatinine 0.80–0 56g/dL, globulin 4.83–4.10g/dL, sodium 136.0-135.0 mmol/L, potassium 3.83-3.80 mmol/L, chloride was 103.0mmol/L for all treatments, bicarbonate 15.67u14.33mmol/L and urea 40.50-30.67 mg.All the values obtained for haematological and serum biochemical parameters were within the normal ranges for growing goats. This indicates that feeding of lemon grass powder has no harmful effect in the health of the animals.
