Xylanase and glucanase supplementation on growth performance and blood profile of Yankasa rams fed crop residues

The study was carried out to evaluate the supplementation of xylanase and glucanase on growth performance and blood profile of Yankasa yearling rams fed crop residue. The study was designed in a 4×4 Latin square design with 4 yearling rams to measure feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion ratio, and some blood parameters. Four dietary treatments were fed, with T1 as the control ration without enzyme combination. T2, T3, and T4 contained 50:50, 75:25, and 25:75 xylanase: glucanase combination, respectively. The result of the study showed that no significant (p>0.05) effect was observed across treatments for all growth parameters while for blood profile, a significant (p<0.05) effect exists. Values for haematological characteristics show significant (p<0.05) differences across treatments for all parameters measured except for haemoglobin. Packed cell volume value was higher for T2 (33.00%), red blood cells values were higher for both T2 (5.63 ×10¹²/L) and T3 (5.63 ×10¹²/L) and white blood cells values were higher for both T3 (25.35 ×10⁹/L) and T1 (24.00 ×10⁹/L). Significant differences (p<0.05) were observed for blood urea (3.58, 3.45 and 3.03 mmol/L) to be higher for T3, T1, and T2 respectively while creatinine (110.28 and 107.80 µmol/L) were observed to be higher for T4 and T3 respectively. It was therefore concluded that supplementation with or without enzyme combination may not affect growth performance without any health hazard on serology.