Thermo-physiological responses and oxidative status of West African dwarf rams fed diets containing supplemental Tetrapleura tetraptera fruit meal

Plant secondary metabolites in Tetrapleuratetraptera fruit meal (TTFM) could be exploited as natural safe feed additives alternative to non- nutritive chemical and antibiotics to enhance rumen fermentation and feed utilization efficiency with negative oxidative stress. The study investigated the responses of West African Dwarf (WAD) rams to the diets containing varying levels of supplemental Tetrapleura tetraptera fruit meal on the oxidative status and thermo-physiological parameters. Thirty five (35) WAD rams with an average live weight of 13.20±0.2 kg were used in a completely randomized design for 140 days. Five concentrate diets containing varying levels (0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 %) of TTFM were formulated while Panicum maximum was fed as a basal diet. The rectal temperature, pulse rate and respiratory rate were measured at two week intervals while blood was collected through jugular veins at the onset and at the end of feeding trial to determine oxidative status parameters in terms of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase, thiobarbituric acid reactive substance (TBARS).Data collected were subjected to one way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). No significant difference observed (p>0.05) in the rectal temperature while the pulse rate and breathing rate increased significantly (p