Biochemical and Haematological Evaluation of the Replacement of Ensiled Cassava Pulp with Cocoa Pod in the Diet of West African Dwarf Goats

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of supplementing cassava pulp with cocoa pod and acacia leaf on the blood metabolites of WAD goats. Twenty-eight WAD bucks aged 5 months with the mean body weight of 7 ± 0.2 kg were used in this completely randomized experiment. The goats were randomly assigned to seven dietary treatments in different ratios of 0:60:40 (T1), 10:50:40 (T2), 20:40:40 (T3), 30:30:40 (T4), 40:20:40 (T5), 50:10:40 (T6), and 60:0:40 (T7) g/kg DM. The collected data were analyzed by the analysis of variance using SPSS. The obtained results showed that the highest PCV was obtained from treatment 1 (26.83%), followed by treatments 2 (23.40%) and 3 (22.27%). Haemoglobin concentration was the highest in treatment 1 (11.4 g/dl), followed by treatments 2 (11.15 g/dl) and 3 (10.37 g/dl).  At the end of the experiment, there was a sharp decline in the PCV and haemoglobin values of the goats in treatments 5, 6, and 7. RBC values significantly (p < 0.05) decreased as the levels of cocoa pod increased. Total protein and albumin had the ranges of 7.23-5 and 3.7-2.1 g/dl, respectively and and Total protein were significantly (p < 0.05) different among the groups. The hepatic enzymes ALT, ALP, and AST were within the normal range. Our study revealed that supplementing cassava pulp with cocoa pod and acacia leaf at the combinations of 0% cocoa pod, 60% cassava pulp, and 40% acacia leaf to 20% cocoa pod, 40% cassava pulp, and 40% acacia leaf had no negative effects on the blood profile of WAD goats.