Effect of Supplement Green Tea and Tetracycline on Nutrient Digestibility, Some Blood Metabolites and Growth Performance of Growing Buffalo Calves

Abstract

he current study was conducted to investigate the effect of addition green tea and tetracycline hydrochloride or both of them to growing buffalo rations on digestibility, blood metabolites and animal performance. Twelve buffalo calves of 11-13 months of age weighing 213 ±3.52 kg were divided into 4 groups of 3 animals each. Dried green tea was added to calves in basic diet (control) at levels of 0.5 % (T1), 1 % tetracycline hydrochloride (T2), and 1 % dried green tea and 1% tetracycline hydrochloride (T3) for 4 month experimental period . All animals of these groups were fed 80% of their requirements as concentrate mixture while wheat straw and alfalfa hay was given. The quantity of concentrate mixture was adjusted every month according to change in body weight (NRC, 2001). The results indicated that dietary supplementation of green tea and tetracycline, or both of them did not significantly (p<0.05) affect on all nutrient digestibility, except EE digestibility was significantly (p<0.05) lower in group T3 than control. No statistically significant differences were observed among the feed supplemented groups for blood proteins, namely albumin and globulin. Buffalos calves fed rations supplemented with tetracycline in T2 or tetracycline and green tea in T3 decreased significantly (P<0.05) serum total cholesterol as compared with those fed control and green tea rations (163.80 and 166.99 vs. 196.17 and 203.31 respectively). Also, no significant differences were observed among all treatments for ALT and AST. However, it was noticed that buffalos fed supplemented tetracycline and green tea in T3 tended to be lower by 3.5 % and 7.3 % for ALT and AST respectively than control group. On the other hand, performance of growing calves in terms of average daily gain, total dry matter intake and fed conversion ratio did not affected by supplemented green tea and tetracycline or both of them to rations. From the results of this study it can be concluded that incorporating green tea at a rate of 0.5 % and tetracycline at a rate of 1 %is Insufficient to improve digestibility and performances of growing buffalo, however mixed feed additive from green tea and tetracycline by rate 1% may be suitable for buffalo's calves, which slightly improvements were noticed.

Nutritional evaluation and supplementation effect of bamboo leaves on intake, growth performance, and blood indices of Djallonké sheep fed <i>Cenchrus purpureus</i> and <i>Brachiaria decumbens</i> as basal diets

“…The observed increase in plasma protein concentration in the sheep can be attributed to the relatively higher crude protein content present in the bamboo leaves used as a supplement in the grass basal diets. Previous studies have indicated a positive correlation between dietary protein and plasma protein concentrations (Yousef and Zaki, 2001;Shahen et al, 2004). This correlation was particularly evident in diets containing O. abyssinica supplements, known for their higher crude protein content, thereby rendering a net positive plasma protein balance in the blood of the host sheep.…”

Effects of Oregano Essential Oil (Origanum onites L.) Supplementation on Growth and Biochemical Metabolites in Merino Lambs

“…In the same study similar to our results the GH concentrations were determined the highest values in essential oregano oil group. In a different study, Hassan & Hassan, (2009a) reported that Karadi lambs fed diet supplemented with rosemary significantly increased GH and daily gain compared with fed except rosemary additive.…”