This study was carried out to investigate the effect of neem leaf meal (NLM) on haematology and serum biochemistry of cockerels. A total of 224 grower cockerels were randomly allocated to 7 dietary treatments with 8 birds per replicate and 4 replicates per treatment. The experiment lasted for 7 weeks. A completely randomized design was adopted in which there were control with no NLM, 2.5% NLM, 5.0% NLM, 7.5% NLM, 10.0% NLM, 12.5% NLM and 15.0% NLM inclusions. Water and feed were given ad-libitum. At the end of the trial, eight birds were selected per treatment and bled. Blood was collected for haematology and serum bioassay. The results showed that neem leaf meal contained 24.06% crude protein. Cholesterol, aspartate transaminase and urea were significantly (p<0.05) different among the seven treatments. Serum cholesterol level decreased with increase in the level of inclusion of NLM. The haematological indices of the birds fed NLM were not significantly influenced (p>0.05) by NLM addition. It was concluded that neem leaf meal could be included in cockerel diets up to 15% without any significant adverse effects on the parameters studied.
Key words: Alternative feed ingredients, Animal protein, Blood count, Poultry production
PAPER TITLE :HAEMATOLOGY AND SERUM BIOCHEMISTRY OF COCKERELS FED DIETS CONTAINING NEEM LEAF MEAL
APPLIED TROPICAL AGRICULTURE | VOLUME 23 NUMBER 1 2018
Paper Details
- Author(s) : Akintomide, A.A., Joseph, O.G. and Onibi, G.E.
- Abstract:
