PHYSIOLOGICAL RESPONSE AND SERUM BIOCHEMICAL METABOLITES OF WEST AFRICAN DWARF GOATS GIVEN DIETARY HERBAL SUPPLEMENTS UNDER TROPICAL CLIMATE

Abstract

The study was conducted to investigate the physiological responses and serum biochemical metabolites of West 
African Dwarf (WAD) goats fed Solanum lycopersicum (SL) fruit and Cissus polpunea (CP) stem powders as 
dietary herbal supplements. 20 WAD female goats with an average age of 10 ± 1 months and an initial average 
weight of 7.42kg were used for this experiment. Four experimental diets were formulated and designated as 
Treatment 1 (T1)- No experimental additive (Control), Treatment 2 (T2)- 10g of CP /300g + basal diet, Treatment 3 
(T) -10g of SL /300 g of control diet and Treatment 4 (T4)- 5g of CP and 5g of SL /300 g of diet control). Heat 
stress significantly elevated the average rectal temperature, while herbal supplementation linearly reduced the heart 
rate and rectal temperature. ALP and AST were significantly (p < 0.05) elevated by heat stress, as revealed before 
herbal administration. However, TP and CP supplementation decreased both values linearly across all treatments. 
Combined addition of SL and CP in T4 significantly (p< 0.05) elevated the Urea level, while values across other 
treatments existed within the normal range. Dietary supplementation of SL and CP reduced the evaluated 
physiological indicators and serum metabolites. Further study should be conducted to test other levels of inclusion.