HAEMATOLOGICAL AND SERUM INDICES OF MARADI BUCKS FED RATIONS CONTAINING YEAST AND CRUSHED WHOLE COTTON SEED

Abstract

The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of yeast (Sacchromyces cerevisiae) inclusion in rations of Maradi bucks containing varied levels of Crushed Whole Cotton Seed (CWCS). A total of 20 bucks weighing 12kg±0.25 were randomly assigned to five diets formulated to contain 14% Crude Protein in complete diets at varied level of 10% CWCS without yeast, 10, 15, 20 & 25% CWCS and 500g yeast (Y) inclusion across treatment groups in a completely randomized design where the means were separated using Duncan Multiple Range Test. Bucks were fed rations at 3.5%live weights throughout the trial period of 90 days. Blood samples were collected via jugular vein puncture at three intervals and immediately analyzed at each sampling time. Parameters measured differed significantly (P<0.05). Total Protein (TP) values ranged from (5.53-6.54g/day), Blood Urea Nitrogen (BUN) values were within (4.30- 4.81mmol/l), creatinine values were within (0.64-0.83 µmol/l) while White Blood Cell (WBC) values were within (12.71-20.2%) across treatment groups and parameters measured were significantly different (P<0.05). The AST values range from (50.51-59.19 IU/L), ALT (25.26-31.54IU/L) and ALP (75.8-81.76 IU/L) across treatment group. It can be concluded that yeast inclusion reduced the severity of immunological impairment in bucks as such, can be used as supplements in small ruminant diets containing gossypol.