Haematological and Serum Biochemical Indicies of Rams Fed Panicum Maximum and Concentrate at Different Sequence and Durations

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of feeding Panicum maximum and concentrate at different sequence and durations on the haematological and serum biochemical indices of West African Dwarf rams. Fifteen (15) West African Dwarf rams were randomly allotted to five groups of 3 rams each, each group randomly assigned to each treatment as follows: TI: Fresh Panicum maximum fed 1hr before feeding concentrate, T2: Fresh Panicum maximum fed 2hrs before fed concentrate, T3: Concentrate fed 1hr before fresh Panicum maximum, T4: Concentrate fed 2hrs before fresh Panicum maximum, T5: Concentrate given with fresh Panicum maximum at the same time for a period of 3 weeks. Diets were fed after an initial acclimatization of 1 week. The results obtained showed that Packed Cell Volume (PCV), Neutrophil (N), Lymphocyte (L), Eosinophil (E) and Basophil (B) concentrations in the blood did not differ significantly (P > 0.05) between the treatments. However, there were significant differences in Haemoglobin (Hb), Red Blood Cell (RBC), White Blood Cell and Monocytes (M) among the groups. The mean Hb and RBC of WAD Rams on Tl were significantly (P < 0.05) higher than those on T3 and T4 (9.55 gdl /vs 8.70 and 8.65 g/dl; 2.95×106ul/mm3 vs 2.55 and 2.50×106ul/mm3 respectively). Rams on T5 diet recorded the highest for WBC (27.50 ×103/ul) but it was similar (P > 0.05) with those on T3 and T4 (22.10 and 23.63 ×103ul/mm3 respectively). The total protein of the WAD rams on T2 was significantly (P < 0.05) the highest (57.50g/dl) among the treatment means while those on T5 were least (53.33g/dl). The mean serum urea of animals fed diet T1 was significantly (P < 0.05) different from those fed T2, T3 and T5 diets. (3.65 mg/dl vs 3.00 mg/dl, 3.00 mg and 3.06 mg/dl respectively). The mean serum glucose of rams fed diets T2 and T5 were significantly (P < 0.05) different from those on T1 diet (5.00mgdl /and 5.00mgdl /vs 4.10mg/dl). It is thus concluded that WAD rams fed Panicum maximum and concentrate at different sequence and durations had no deleterious effect on the haematological and serum biochemical parameters evaluated.