Haemato-biochemical parameters of lambs fed tannin containing Daniellia oliveri seed meal based diet

This study investigated the effect of replacement of conventional protein source groundnut cake (GNC) with toasted-decorticated Daniellia oliveri seed meal (DSM) on haemato-biochemical parameters of lambs. Twenty intact 6-month-old lambs were used in an 84-day experiment. The animals were randomly divided into four treatments containing 0, 25, 50 and 75% DSM replacement levels for GNC. Five animals were randomly allotted to one of dietary treatments in a completely randomised design. The concentrates were formulated to have similar (P>0.05) CP of 181.0 g/kg DM on average. All the other nutrients in the formulated supplements were significantly different (P<0.05). There were increases in levels of organic matter (924.9–961.00 g/kg DM), non-fibre carbohydrates (238.03–329.36 g/kg DM) as well as condensed tannins, as the level of inclusion of DSM in the concentrate diet increased. Packed cell volume, white blood cell, lymphocytes, serum urea and glucose linearly increased (P<0.05) but mean corpuscular haemaoglobin concentration linearly decreased (P<0.05) while other haematological and serum parameters were similar among diets. Blood parameters were within established ranges for healthy sheep. The results indicate that tannins containing Daniellia oliveri seed meal can be incorporated up to 75% without compromising body immunity system and health of the animals.