Abstract

Background:
Ruminant animals suffer from inadequate feed materials and quality, especially in the dry season.

Aim:
A feeding trial for 84-days was conducted to evaluate growth performance and certain physiological parameters of West African dwarf (WAD) buck goats fed diets with graded levels of Azadirachta indica (Juss.) leaf meal.

Methods:
Eighteen WAD buck goat aged 8-9 months, mean weight of 6.0kg, were randomly allotted to three experimental treatments: T1 (concentrate without Azadirachta indica leaf meal), T2 (concentrate + 5% Azadirachta indica leaf meal), and T3(concentrate + 10% Azadirachta indica leaf meal) in a complete randomized experimental design. The researched animals were fed concentrates with the inclusion of Azadirachta indica leaf meal. Data obtained on feed intake, weight gain, hematology, and biochemical indices of the goats.

Results:
The results showed that animals fed 10% Neem leaf meal inclusion had the highest feed intake (43.47kg), weight gain (3.83kg), and feed conversion ratio (FCR) of 11.55% across the treatments. The inclusion of NLM in the diets showed improved growth performance. The results indicated that hematological parameters demonstrate stability at maximal supplementation. Protein metabolism was also enhanced by the inclusion of a maximal amount of neem leaf. This study concludes that inclusion of WAD goats (buck) with 10% inclusion level of NLM as replacement of Palm kernel cake (PKC) in the goats' diets, as measured by live body weight gain, feed intake, feed conversion ratio, hematology, and biochemical measure showed enhanced performance.

Conclusion:
The outcome of the result implied and concluded that the hematological and biochemical parameters do not have any deleterious effects on the health of the experimental animal fed 10% NLM.

Key words: Biochemical indices; Growth performance; Hematology; Neem leaf; West African dwarf bucks.