INTAKE AND BLOOD CONSTITUENTS OF RED SOKOTO GOATS FED TOTAL DIETS CONSISTING OF HAY MEAL AND PROCESSED BY-PRODUCTS

The intake and blood constituents of Red Sokoto (RS) goats fed total diets consisting of Andropogon tectorum hay meal and two agro-industrial processed by-products; brewer’s dried grains (BDG) and malted sorghum sprouts (MSP) were evaluated. Four diets designated T1, T2, T3 and T4 were formulated to contain varying proportions of BDG and MSP (40:10, 30:20, 20:30 and 10:40). The diets were offered to twenty-four (24) RS goats in a completely randomised design (CRD) experiment for 56 days. Daily feed intakes (g/d) and weekly body weight (kg) changes were measured. Blood samples were collected via jugular vein puncture before and after the experiment for analyses. All the parameters on intake and body weight changes were non-significant (P>0.05); though goats on T4 showed numerical superiority among the other treatments. Apart from the mean corpuscular volume (MCV), white blood cells (WBC) and direct bilirubin which were statistically affected (P0.05). After the trial, the packed cell volume (PCV), haemoglobin (Hb), red blood cells (RBC), MCV, mean corpuscular haemoglobin (MCH), mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) and WBC showed significant differences (P0.05). Goats on T3 and T4 had similar (P>0.05) PCV and Hb values (32.23%; 31.74% and 11.46g/dl; 11.51g/dl). The PCV of goats on T1 (28.99%) and T2 (28.29%) were statistically similar (P>0.05) while their Hb values (9.06g/dl and 9.93g/dl) differed (P<0.05). The WBC counts followed similar trend as the PCV values across the treatments with a range of 12.30×103/μl – 16.95×103/μl. RBC counts were superior for goats on T4 (18.50×106/μl) than the other groups. Blood glucose levels, total bilirubin and creatinine values remained statistically unchanged while blood urea and direct bilirubin values were significantly different (P<0.05) among the treatment means. The glucose values ranged from 58.56mg/dl (T1) – 63.48mg/dl (T2). Higher urea (19.85mg/dl) was recorded for goats on T3 followed by goats on T4 (17.49mg/dl) while goats on T1 had the least urea value (15.22mg/dl). From these findings, it could be deduced that the four dietary treatments did not alter performance and health status of the animals with T4 being adjoined as the best; hence, the use of these agro-industrial processed by-products to support production during periods of forage scarcity should be adopted