DIETARY EFFECT OF COPPER SULPHATE ON BLOOD AND SERUM BIOCHEMICAL INDICES OF GROWING GOATS

Abstract

An in-depth analysis of blood gives a reflection of animal’s responsiveness to their internal and external environment. Hence, a 56-day study was carried out using fifteen West African Dwarf (WAD) bucks of about 12-18months, with an average body weight of 6.09±0.58kg, to evaluate their nutrient intake, haematological and serum biochemical indices when fed copper sulphate (CuSO4) supplemented diets. A concentrate diet was formulated and divided into five equal portions and CuSO4 was added to the diets at 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20 mg/kg diets representing treatments T-control), T2, T3, T4) and T5, respectively and fed to the goats in a Completely Randomized Design experiment. Nutrient composition and nutrient intake were determined. Blood was collected from each goat and sera were harvested from each blood sample collected. The blood samples were analyzed for whole blood count, mean corpuscular volume, mean corpuscular haemoglobin, while sera for total protein (TP), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alkaline phosphatase. Data generated were subjected to statistical analysis. From the results, supplementation of CuSO4 did not significantly (P>0.05) influence DMI by the goats, while goats fed T5 (20 mg/kg CuSO4) had the highest CPI (61.00g/day). Goats fed T4 and T5 had statistical similar values for PCV. Goats fed T5 had the highest value of RBC (15.70x106/µL), WBC (11.33x103/µL), Hb (12.70g/100mL), MCHC (33.13g/dL), TP (6.82g/dL) and AST (63.83IU/L). Conclusively, the study revealed that copper sulphate supplementation in growing goats’ diet has potentials to improve blood components without deleterious effects on their health status, and could be supplemented even up to 20mg/kg.