Blood profiles of indigenous Pedi goats fed varying levels of <i>Vachellia karroo</i> leaf meal in <i>Setaria verticillata</i> hay-based diet

Abstract

Vachellia karroo (Acacia karroo) is promising fodder for goats in the critical dry season in communal rangelands. The only limitation to the use of this fodder tree is the presence of phenolic compounds, such as condensed tannins. A study was conducted to investigate the effects of tanniniferous V. karroo leaf meal feeding on blood profiles of indigenous Pedi goats fed a basal diet of Setaria verticillata grass hay. Twenty indigenous Pedi goats, weighing 18 ± 2 kg, were allocated in a completely randomized design to five dietary treatments containing V. karroo leaf meal at 20% (S 80 A 20 ), 25% (S 75 A 25 ), 30% (S 70 A 30 ), 40% (S 60 A 40 ) and 50% (S 50 A 50 ) of the total diet in a 22-day trial. Twelve ml of blood were collected from the jugular vein from each goat before and after the experiment for haematological and serum biochemical assays. Daily dry matter intake (DMI) was similar across treatments, ranging from 633 g to 765 g per goat per day. There was no difference in initial and final bodyweights of goats consuming various experimental diets. However, bodyweight gains were significantly higher in goats fed a diet with 50% leaf meal as compared with other treatment groups. There were no differences in haematological indices of Pedi goats except for mean corpuscular haemoglobin (Hb) concentration. Goats fed 50% leaf meal had significantly lower mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (MCHC) values as compared with other treatment groups. Similarly, there were no differences in the blood serum chemistry of goats that consumed various inclusion levels of V. karroo, except for serum total protein (TP) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT). Goats fed 50% leaf meal had depressed serum TP, while serum enzyme Alanine aminotransferase (ALT) concentration decreased significantly in goats fed 25% leaf meal as compared with those on the 20% dietary treatment. Tannin concentration of 8.2 g/kg dry matter (DM) had no toxic effect on experimental animals. A 40 % inclusion of V. karroo in a Setaria verticillata hay-based diet may be fed to indigenous Pedi goats without compromising the immunity system and health of the animals. ______________________________________________________________________________________

The effect of varying levels of purified condensed tannins on performance, blood profile, meat quality and methane emission in male Bapedi sheep fed grass hay and pellet-based diet

“…Purified condensed tannin supplementations did not affect haematocrit values of male Bapedi sheep, indicating that the animals were not anaemic (Purves et al, 2003 ). These results are similar to those of Solaiman et al ( 2010 ) and Brown et al ( 2016 ) for goats fed various levels of tanniniferous Sericea lespedeza and Vachellia karroo diets, respectively.…”

“…Purified condensed tannin supplementations did not affect haematocrit values of male Bapedi sheep, indicating that the animals were not anaemic (Purves et al, 2003). These results are similar to those of Solaiman et al (2010) and Brown et al (2016) for goats fed various levels of tanniniferous Sericea lespedeza and Vachellia karroo diets, respectively. There were no significant variations in white blood cell (WBC) counts of Bapedi sheep on diets differing in purified condensed tannin supplementation levels, indicating that the animals were in good health (Ahamefule et al, 2008;Solaiman et al, 2010).…”

Effects of dietary replacement of broiler litter withMucuna pruriens utilisforage and seed meal on performance, carcass characteristics, blood biochemical and physiological parameters in indigenous goats

“…[78] who found no significant effect of 10% dietary MSM supplementation on plasma glucose concentrations in goats. Our serum glucose values were beyond the normal range of 2.78 – 4.16 mmol/L reported for healthy goats [108] and above those observed in South African indigenous Pedi goats [27]. Glucose levels lower than normal ranges are an indication of hypoglycemia while higher levels are an indication of hyperglycemia [109].…”

“…In this regard, indigenous goat nutrition in this region of the African continent is largely based on communal natural pastures and rangelands in which available tropical forages are highly fibrous and low in protein during winter season. Consequently, this compromises goat productivity [27] and predisposes the animals to diseases and parasites and ultimately dearth in extreme cases [28, 29]. Also, abundant agro-industrial by-products [e.g.…”

Defatting of acetone leaf extract of Acacia karroo (Hayne) enhances its hypoglycaemic potential

“…The plant is very easy to identify due to its characteristic white paired thorns, brilliant yellow flowers and red like coffee colored bark [ 10 ]. The name of the plant has recently been changed to Vachellia karroo [ 11 ]. The gum produced by A. karroo is used against oral thrush and can also be harvested for food during hard times.…”