ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of cocoyam leaf and rice stover supplement diets on the haematological parameters of the young female West African Dwarf (WAD) goats. The experiment was carried out at the Animal Production and Health Departmental Teaching and Research Farm, Faculty of Agriculture, Federal University Oye-Ekiti and the laboratory analysis was at Fasanmade medical laboratory ADO-EKITI between May-July. Nineteen young female (WAD) goats received l00g daily of an assigned diet in a completely randomized design for 90days. The diets evaluated were Rice Stover, Cocoyam leaf and Rice Stover+ Cocoyam Leaf supplement diets and these were compared to a control diet: pasture browsing. Portable drinking water was provided for each animal ad-libitum. Blood samples were collected from the jugular vein of individual animal monthly to evaluate Red blood cell (RBC), Haemoglobin concentration (HB) , Packed cell volume (PCV), mean corpuscular volume (MVC) , Mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), Mean cell haemoglobin corpuscular (MCHC), White blood corpuscular (WBC), and WBC Differentials. Results show that there were no significant (p>0.05) differences in the parameters evaluated between diets and control. RBC ( Red blood cell) ranges between 6.46±0.92 and 5.26±0.44. Haemoglobin concentration (1-1B)ranges between 7.11±0.48 and 6.12±0.40, Packed cell volume (PCV) ranges between 0.24±0.01 and 0.18±0.01, Mean corpuscular volume (MVC) ranges between 56.13±23.58 and 31.64±1.0I, Mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH) ranges between 16.70±6.48 and I0.40±0.85 Mean cell haemoglobin corpuscular (MCI-IC) ranges between 33.25±1.38 and 30.90±1.58, White blood corpuscular (WBC) ranges between 15.05±1.86 and 12.20±1.56. It is concluded from results of study that cocoyam leaf+ rice stover supplement diet could be used to feed goat during the period of its abundance after harvest without any deleterious effect on the animal.