Short Communication: Effect of Soil Moisture Level on the growth of the Giant African Land Snails, Archachatina marginata and Achatina achatina in different season.

This study focused on the evaluation of the effect of soil moisture on the feed intake and weight gain of the Giant African Land snails, Achatina achatina and Archachatina marginata in different seasons using a 2 x 2 x 4 factorial experiment with soil moisture at two levels (low 25ml of water/ week and high 100ml water/week), species at two levels (Achatina achatina and Archachatina marginata) and season at four levels (cold dry, hot dry, hot wet and cold wet) constituting the three factors. Result showed that there was a significant seasonal differences (P<0.001) for weekly feed intake of snails in which values of 3.85, 2.53, 3.88 and 4.44g were recorded in cold dry, hot dry, hot wet and cold wet seasons, respectively. Monthly weight gains of 5.41g recorded for Archachatina marginata was significantly higher (P<0.001) than the value of 1.94g recorded for Achatina achatina. There was significant interaction (P<0.001) between soil moisture level and species on monthly weight gains of the snails. The feed intake and weight gain of snails (4.28 g and 6.43 g) in the high soil moisture treatment was significantly (P<0.01) higher than those in the low soil moisture treatment (3.07 g and 5.30 g). In conclusion, it is evident that species, season and soil moisture level affected the feed intake and weight gain of the Giant African Land Snails. Keywords: Soil moisture, season, species, feed intake, weight gain and Giant African Land snail

Haematological and physiological parameters of West African dwarf goats as influenced by coat variation and sex

Twenty four West African Dwarf (WAD) goats of both sexes (12 bucks and 12 does) raised under intensive system and weighing between 5 and 11 kg with different coat colours (Black, Brown, Tan and White) were used for this study to evaluate the effects of sex and coat colour on their haematological and physiological parameters in south-western Nigeria. Blood sampling was done weekly for 8 weeks. Parameters examined were Red Blood Cell count (RBC), White Blood Cell count (WBC), Haematocrit (HCT), Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin (MCH), Mean Corpuscular Haemoglobin Concentration (MCHC), Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV), Haemoglobin Concentration (Hb) Red Cell Distribution Width (RDW), Pulse Rate (PR), Respiratory Rate (RR), Rectal Temperature (RT) and Skin Temperature (ST). Results showed that coat colour had significant effects (p<0.05) on MCV, MCH and RDW. Goats with White coat colour had the highest MCV and MCH values of 14.8±0.25 Fl and 5.3±0.06 pg respectively. Goats with Tan coat colour had the highest RDW value (25.1±0.30%). West African dwarf does had higher (p<0.05) WBC, RBC, Hb, HCT and MCHC than WAD bucks. There was significant (p<0.05) interaction of coat colour and sex on WBC, MCV, and MCHC. West African dwarf does with White coat colour had the highest WBC count and MCHC of 27.9±2.27 x109/L and 385.5±6.16 g/L respectively, while the WAD does with Tan coat colour had the highest MCV value (15.2±0.31 Fl). West African dwarf bucks with White coat colour had the highest MCV while WAD bucks with Tan coat colour had the highest WBC count and MCHC. Sex had significant (p<0.05) effect on the PR in goats. Does had higher PR (95.0±0.65 bm-1) than bucks (92.48±0.499 bm-1). However, there were no significant (p>0.05) influence of sex on RR, RT and ST. Variation in coat colour had significant (p<0.05) effect on PR and RR, while RT and ST were similar (p>0.05) among goats of different coat colours. White coat coloured goats recorded the highest value of PR (97.2±0.10 bm-1) which was similar (p>0.05) to the observed value for goats with Black coat colour. Goats with Black coat colour had higher (p<0.05) RR (36.7±0.43 fm-1) compared to goats with other coat colours. Interaction of coat colour and sex was significant (p<0.05) on PR and RR in WAD goats. White does had the highest PR (100.79±1.631bm-1), while Black bucks had the highest RR (37.43±0.541 fm-1). The study concluded that sex and coat colour had great influence on some haematological and physiological indices in West African dwarf goats managed intensively.Keywords: Coat Colour, Haematological and Physiological Parameters, Sex, WAD Goa

Effect of diets with different protein-energy density on the gastrointestinal nematode status of semi- intensively managed West African dwarf sheep

This study was conducted to determine the effect of different protein and energy density diets on the gastrointestinal parasite status of semi-intensively raised West African Dwarf (WAD) sheep. The different densities used were low energy-low protein (LELP); low energy-high protein (LEHP); high energy-low protein (HELP) and high energy-high protein (HEHP). Twenty four WAD sheep with an average weight of 11.5±0.41 kg, aged between 5 and 6 months were used. These were divided into four groups of six animals per group in a completely randomized design. Groups were each fed one of the diets, respectively, as supplement and released into a paddock grown with Stylosanthes hamata and Pennisetum pedicellatum, to graze for 12 weeks at 5 hours per day. The faecal egg count (FEC) ranged from 375 to 3483 eggs per gram (epg). The strongyle eggs had the highest (P<0.05) number whereas moniezia eggs were the least. The effect of the different protein-energy densities on the final FEC and the differences between the final and initial FEC were significant (P<0.05). The FEC obtained in animals fed LELP and LEHP showed 56.30 and 13.30 percentage reduction (P<0.05) in epg, respectively, whereas animals fed HELP showed percentage increase (P<0.05) of 104.30 epg. The highest trend (P<0.05) of infestation was obtained in those fed LELP while the least trend was obtained in those fed HEHP. It could therefore be concluded that diets high in protein and energy levels reduced the gastrointestinal nematodes of WAD sheep compared to other nutrient combinations.Keywords: Gastrointestinal nematode, Nutrient density, WAD shee