The antihelminthic properties of tannin-rich plants are being explored as an alternative to chemical drugs to minimise the effects of gastro intestinal nematodes (GIN). The present study was, therefore, conducted to investigate the effect of condensed tannins (CT), obtained from regional tanniferous tree leaves, in the Haemonchus contortus infected goats on the heamatobiochemical parameters to assess the goat health. Twelve adult male goats were randomly divided into three equal groups, namely negative control, infected control and treatment. H. contortus infected goats were allocated into infected control and treatment groups and their feeds contained 0 and 1.96 % of CT, respectively. Feeding trial was conducted for the duration of 90 days during which haematological and serum biochemical parameters were monitored on fortnightly basis. The animals ingesting the CT-rich leaf meal mixture had increased levels of haemoglobin, packed cell volume, total protein, globulin, glucose and calcium, and decreased levels of blood urea; indicating a beneficial effect of CT supplementation at the selected level. However, the phosphorus balance, serum albumin levels and serum enzyme activity were not affected significantly. The study revealed that inclusion of CT in the diets of the adult male goats did not pose any threat to the health of the goats. Further, the CT based diet had beneficial impact on the haematological parameters and could therefore be included in small ruminant diets to minimize the impact of GIN.

Aim: Present study pertains to lime treatment of olive meal to improve its digestibility. The objective of the present study was to assess the in vitro dry matter degradability of total mixed ration containing lime treated olive meal at varied levels of maize replacement to know the optimum level of lime and treated olive meal as maize replacement in small ruminant diets. Materials and methods: Study was carried out in two phases. In phase I, A complete diet was formulated and treated with lime at variable concentrations (0-8%) at 25% of maize replacement and subjected to in vitro studies as per Tilley and Terry. On the basis of the results of this phase, a concentration of lime for olive treatment was selected and tested at variable levels of maize replacement (0-50%) by treated olive cake in phase II. Data was analyzed as per the procedures suggested by Snedecor and Cochran. Results: The in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) of composite diet increased from 43.95% at 0% lime treatment to 48.68% on treating with 8% lime with significant (P<0.05) increase at 6% treatment level. Lime treatment beyond 6% had no further significant effect on improving the digestibility. Graded levels of maize replacement by olive meal treated with 6% lime (lime percentage selected from phase I) showed that the in vitro digestibility of mixed ration was not compromised up to 40% replacement level of maize by treated olive meal. Improved digestibility with lime treatment may be due to weakening of internal Hydrogen bonding, thereby disrupting the fiber structure in olive meal. Further lime may be saponifying the high level of fat present in olive meal, which may otherwise negatively impact the digestibility values. Conclusion: It can be concluded that the treatment with up to 6% of lime can effectively increase the digestibility of olive meal. Treated olive meal can replace up to 40% of maize from daily ration without affecting the digestibility of composite ration. Thus incorporating lime treated olive meal may prove beneficial to livestock producers. [Vet World 2013; 6(7.000): 440-443