Haematological and serum biochemical profiles of two broiler strains fed rations with varying levels of palm kernel oil residue

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to evaluate the haematological and serum biochemical profiles of two broiler strains fed diets with varying levels of palm kernel oil residue (PKOR). A total of 450 unsexed birds were evaluated in a 2 x 3 factorial experiment involving two broiler strains (Cobb and Ross) and three dietary treatments of 0%, 10% and 20% levels of inclusion of PKOR. Two hundred and twenty-five (225) birds from each broiler strain were randomly assigned to each of the three dietary treatments. Each treatment group had 75 birds, replicated 3 times with 25 birds per replicate. At 56 days of age, three birds from each replicate were randomly selected and their blood sample collected for haematological and serum biochemical analyses. Results showed that apart from the packed cell volume (PCV), there were no significant differences in the haematologi-cal parameters of the two broiler strains. The Ross broiler strain had better PCV than Cobb broiler strain. With the exception of white blood cell (WBC) count, the dietary treatments did not influence any of the haematological parameters evaluated. Birds on the 0% and 10% PKOR recorded signifi-cantly higher (p<0.05) WBC counts than birds fed the 20% PKOR ration. All serological parame-ters studied were similar in both broiler strains, except alkaline phosphatase (ALP) enzyme which was significantly (p<0.05) higher in Cobb broiler strain. Serological parameters measured did not vary significantly (p>0.05) among the dietary treatments. There were no significant (p>0.05) inter-actions between broiler genotype and diet on any of the haematological and serological parameters studied. Palm kernel oil residue could be included in the diets of broilers up to 20% without ad-verse effects on broiler health.