Original Contribution EFFECTS OF FEEDING TANNIN-CONTAINING FORAGE IN VARYING PROPORTION WITH CONCENTRATE ON THE VOLUNTARY INTAKE, HAEMATOLOGICAL AND BIOCHEMICAL INDICES OF GOATS

Abstract

Twelve healthy Red Sokoto male goats (7-8 months old, liveweight (LW) 12.0 ± 0.68 kg) were randomly allocated to one of three treatment groups comprising condensed tannins (CT) containing-forage, Ficus polita (FP), mixed with concentrate to produce three total mixed rations (TMR): 700:300 g/kg, 600:400 g/kg and 500:500 g/kg forage:concentrate (F:C) ratios in a 84-day experiment. Daily intakes of dry matter, crude protein, organic matter, total carbohydrate, non-fibre carbohydrate and hemicellulose linearly increased (p<0.01) but that of lignin and CT linearly decreased (p<0.01) as the ratio of F:C decreased. Whereas intake of ash linearly increased (p<0.05), intakes of acid detergent fibre and cellulose decreased both linearly (p<0.01) and quadratically (p<0.05) as the concentrate proportion increased. Packed cell volume (PCV), white blood cell (WBC), lymphocytes, serum urea and glucose linearly increased (p<0.05) but mean corpuscular haemaoglobin concentration linearly decreased (p<0.05) as the ratio of F:C decreased, while other haematological and serum parameters were similar among diets. Dietary CT intake (g/kg LW) was negatively correlated to PCV, MCHC, WBC, lymphocyte, urea and glucose. The results indicate that tanniniferous FP forage can be incorporated up to 700 g/kg in a TMR (700:300 g/kg F:C ratio) without compromising the body immunity system and health of the animals.