Blood profile and Carcass Characteristics of West African Dwarf Goats Fed Groundnut Haulms and Cowpea Husk Supplemented with Brewers’ Dried Grain

Blood profile and carcass characteristics of West African dwarf (WAD) goats fed groundnut haulms and cowpea husk supplemented with brewers’ dried grain, were investigated. Twelve growing WADn goats of average age of 12 months, mean live weight of 12 kg, were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments of T1, T2, T3 and T4 that had groundnut haulms at 10, 30, 70 and 90 % combined with cowpea husks at 90, 70, 30 and 10% basal diet and supplemented with 150g of brewers’ dried grain (BDG). Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was employed in the study. Parameters determined were growth, carcass characteristics and hematological indices. All data obtained were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) using the SAS (2001) package. Means were separated using Duncan’s multiple range test (Duncan, 1955). Effects of the experimental diets on blood profiles of the animals showed PCV values of 39.61 to 41.23 %, haemaglobin (Hb) 5.75 – 6.55g/dl, White blood cells, 9.20 to 11.00, Red blood cell counts (RBC) 4.75 – 6.55mg/dl. Total proteins (mg dl-1), albumin (mg dl-1) and globulin (mg dl-1) of 3.95-4.51, 3.45-4.51 and 3.72-4.32 respectively were obtained in this study. Results of total proteins (g dl-1) showed no significant (P>0.01) differences between treatments T1 – T3. In case of albumin (mg dl-1), there were significant (P>0.01) difference between treatment. Values for globulin (mg dl-1), also showed significant difference (P<0.01) among the treatment. For carcass parameters significant (p<0.05) differences were obtained across treatments with the exceptions of weights of flanks, rack and loins.

the management practices, nutrition and diagnosis of their health conditions Opara et al. [8]. Determination of blood chemistry parameters such as glucose, total protein, blood urea nitrogen and cholesterol have been used in assessing nutritional status in cattle Gleen et al. [9]. Reduced feed or protein consumption in goats alters some blood chemistry profiles such as glucose, lipids and proteins Irkham et al. [10]. Aletor et al. [11] reported that the effects of diets on blood and serum chemistry should be of paramount interest since blood transports gases, nutrients and excretory products within the body. Information on blood profile and carcass characteristics of West African dwarf goats fed groundnut haulms and cowpea husk supplemented with brewers' dried grain is scanty.
The research was therefore carried out to bridge this gap.

Experimental Site
The experiment was conducted at the Teaching and Research

Experimental Animals and Their Management
Twelve West African Dwarf bucks of average age of 12 months and mean live weight of 12 kg were sourced from the local markets in and around Mubi. Their ages were determined through their dental formulae. They were then housed individually in pens measuring 1.5m 2 and 1.5m high. The floor of the house was of concrete and covered with wood shavings to absorb moisture from the animals' dung and urine. The animals were quarantined for two weeks during which they were fed the experimental diets for adaptation and dewormed with Albendazol. At the end of the adaptation period, the animals were tagged, randomly allocated to treatments and balanced on weight basis for all the treatments. They were weighed to get the initial weights before embarking on data collection.

Experimental Diets
There were four treatments with each treatment replicated three times, making a total of twelve experimental animals. The treatments were T 1 , T 2 , T 3

Results and Discussion
Effects of the experimental diets on blood profiles of the experimental animals are presented in Table 2. The PCV values which indicates the relative proportion of plasma and red blood cells of 39.61 to 41.23 % obtained in this study were higher than goats and compared favorably with 36.9 -40.12 % obtained by Taiwo et al. [13]. The haemaglobin (Hb) of 5.75 -6.55g/dl obtained in this study were not far from the 9.9 g/dl reported by Opara et al. [8] for healthy female WAD goats, indicating the absence of microcytic hypochromic anaemia caused by iron deficiency and improper utilization for the formation of haemoglobin Olafadehan [14]. White blood cells of 9.20 to 11.00 ranges are an indicator of immune response to foreign bodies in the organism. The off shot in the white blood cells observed corroborates with the result of Waziri et al. [15] in Sahel goats. The red blood cell counts (RBC) values obtained in this study (4.75 -6.55mg/dl were lower than those of Okunlola et al. [16]. Values of total proteins (mg dl -1 ), albumin (mg dl -1 ) and globulin (mg dl -1 ) of 3.95-4.51, 3.45-4.51 and 3.72-4.32 respectively were obtained in this study. In addition, results of total proteins (g dl -1 ) showed no significant (P>0.01) differences between treatments T 1 -T 3 . In case of albumin (mg dl -1 ), there were significant (P>0.01) difference between treatment. Values for globulin (mg dl -1 ), also showed significant difference (P<0.01) among the treatment.
For globulin values, that of T 4 proved to be the highest. These to 3.00 -3.81mg/dl obtained by Olafadehan [14].
Effects of the diets on carcass characteristics of goats are shown in Table 3.