Effect of artemisia leaves on yield, hematological parameters and worm parasites of female lambs of Kurdish Mixed Breeds

The aim of this study was to evaluate the use of Artemisia leaves on yield, hematological parameters and worm infestation. For this purpose, 20  female Kurdish lambs with average weight of 30±5 kg and 5-6 months old were used in a completely randomized design with 2 treatments and 10 replicates for 30 days. Treatments were: 1- control (diet without artemisia), 2- basal diet + 20 g of artemisia, where artemisia was mixed with basal diet and given to the lambs of this group. In order to determine the effect of Artemisia leaves on hematological parameters and worm infestation, blood sampling and fecal sampling were performed on days zero, 15 and 30, respectively. The number of white blood cells on day 0 was the highest in the control treatment (P <0.05). The percentage of lymphocytes on the 15th day was significantly affected by the treatments and increased with the addition of artemisinin leaves (P <0.05). Also, with the addition of artemisinin leaves, the mean number of phagocytic masses on the 30th day increased significantly (P <0.05). On day 0, parasitic infection was highest in the control group (P <0.05) and with the addition of artemisinin leaves, worm parasites decreased numerically on the 15th and 30th days but were not significant. In general, the results showed that the addition of artemisinin increased the percentage of lymphocytes and the average number of phagocytic mass and was effective in reducing worm infection in the studied periods.