Haematological and biochemical changes in cockerels fed rations containing graded levels of wild sunflower Tithonia diversifolia Hemls Grey leaf meal
A 98 days feeding trail was used to evaluate the effect of Wild Sunflower Leaf Meal (WSLM) at varying levels on the haematology and biochemical changes of cockerels. A total of one hundred and twenty (120) four months old cockerels were randomly allotted into four dietary treatments with three replicates per experimental diet (ten birds per replicate) Wild Sunflower Leaf Meal (WSLM) was included in four graded levels; 0, 5, 10 and 15% for four treatments; D1, D2, D3 and D4 respectively. Packed Cell Volume (PCV) Red Blood Cell Count (RBC) White Blood Cell Count (WBC) Haemaglobin Concentration (Hb) Lymphocyte Count, Neutrophil Count, Platelets, Mean Corpuscular Haemaglobin Concentration (MCHC) Mean Corpuscular Heamaloglobin (MCH) Haemaglobin (MCH) Aspartate aminotransferase (AST) Glucose, Urea Chloride, Sodium and Potassium ion values were significantly different (P<0.05) among the treatments. Mean values obtained for creatine, Total protein, alanine aminotransferase (AST) Albumin and Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV) were not significantly different (P>0.05) in all the treatments. Based on these results, Wild Sunflower Leaf Meal (WSLM) inclusion up to 15% in the diet of cockerels has no adverse effect on the haematological and biochemical indices of the birds.