Abstract
A forty-nine days investigation into the haematological characteristics and serum biochemistry of cockerels fed varying levels of tiger nut seed meal diets were conducted. Five different diets were formulated such that tiger nut replaced maize at 0% (T1), 25% (T2), 50% (T3), 75% (T4), and 100% (TS) respectively in a Completely Randomized Design. The control diet (TI) contained no tiger nut. One hundred and twenty (120) four weeks old cockerels procured from Liberation Farm, Umuahia were used for the experiment. The cockerels were arranged into five dietary treatments, each containing three replicates with eight birds per dietary treatment and eight birds per replicate. Result indicated that the White Blood Cell (WBC), Red Blood Cell (RBC), Haemoglobin (Hb), packed cell volume (PCV). heterophil; lymphocyte, monocyte and basinophil except the eosinophil were not affected by the replacement of maize with tiger nut. The test diet recorded lower eosinophil (2.33-3.67 x 103/ul) compared to the control (5.67 x 103/ul) the eosinophil values however were still within the normal acceptable range, 1-6 x 103/ul. Higher eosinophil value of the control suggests that it was immunologically challenged, whereas, the lower values of eosinophil in the test diets may suggest inherent physiochemical properties of the tiger nut that reduced the vulnerability of the animals against worm infections associated with higher values of eosinophil. TS recorded lymphocyte value (44.67 x 103/ul) slightly lower than normal range values. Therefore inclusion of tiger nut at any level lower than 100% will favour optimum haematological function of the cockerels. The dietary treatment affected the serum bilirubin, creatinine and cholesterol levels but did not affect the serum total protein, globulin, albumin and blood urea. T4 recorded the highest bilirubin (0.28 g/dl) which compared with the control (0.21 g/dl) suggesting more efficient metabolism. Total protein and globulin decreased, whereas, creatinine increased as level of tiger nut increased. Urea and albumin did not portray a definite trend. Higher creatinine values are associated with higher crude protein. While this is true for control diet (0.38 mg/dl), it was not for the T4 and T5 whose higher creatinine values (0.38 mg/dl) are attributed to the presence of antinutrients such as oxalates which binds proteins resulting in high catabolic products, including creatinine. T3 containing 50% of tiger nut is recommended as the most tolerable level to replace maize due to its lowest FCR. high body weight, comparable haematological characteristics. lowest urea and moderate creatinine value.
Published Version
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