Influence of Moringa leaf meal (MOLM) supplementation on Growth performance, Haematological parameters and faecal egg count of West African dwarf sheep

Abstract

Eighteen (18) West African Dwarf (WAD) rams weighing between 9 – 17 kg were used in a feeding trial to determine the effect of Moringa oleifera plant at varying levels of inclusion. The experimental animals were divided into three (3) groups of six (6) animals per group. Each group were randomly allotted to the 3 experimental diet containing 0%, 5% and 10% Moringa oleifera leaves meal respectively in a Completely Randomized Design. Results showed that M. oleifera leaves supplemented had no significant (P> 0.05) effect on performance characteristics of rams. However, weight gain g day1 and metabolic weight gain (kg) increased with increasing M. oleifera leaves inclusion. At the onset of the experiment, there were no significant (P>0.05) different among all the haematological parameters considered while the mean corpuscular haemoglobin was significantly (P<0.05) influenced by the varying levels of Moringa supplemented in the diets. Oocyst and egg count were reduced by M. oleifera inclusion. Hence, increased inclusion levels M. oleifera leaves supplementation could reduce the worm load of WAD rams and as well increase the feed intake and dry matter intake as well as growth performance characteristics of the WAD rams with no influence on the health status of the rams.

Keywords: Faecal egg count, Growth Moringa oleifera