Nano zinc supplementation in ruminant’s livestock, influence on physiological, immune functions and oxidative stability of West African dwarf goat bucks

The recent temperature extremes and other associated climatic events pose a detrimental effect to ruminant livestock. To abate this, it is necessary to adopt a functional (biotechnology) approach like the use of nano minerals as feed additives for normal immune function. Nano zinc oxide (nZnO) has demonstrated growth-promoting properties and has been reported to improve antioxidant capacities with high bioavailability recorded in ruminant. This study therefore aimed to research into nano zinc supplementation on growth performance, haematology, serum, oxidative and antioxidant enzymes of West African dwarf (WAD) goats. A total of 18 yearling WAD goats (7.2 ± 0.54 kg) were allocated into 3 treatments of 6 animals per treatment on weight equalization bases. Each group was randomly allotted to three (0, 300 and 600 mg/kg nZnO) experimental diets. Data on haematological parameters, serum minerals and serum biochemical parameters were collected on day 0 and day 84 of the experiment. Data collected were subjected to analysis of variance in a completely randomized design (CRD), and significant means were separated using Tukey’s test. It was revealed that West African dwarf goats fed 600 mg/kg nZnO recorded the highest ( p 0.05) effect on blood superoxide dismutase (SOD) and total bilirubin concentration while reduced ( p