Effect of tanniferous leaf meal mixture based multi nutrient blocks on nutrient utilization and biochemical profile of Haemonchus contortus infected goats

The experiment was carried out in 12 local adult male goats of average body weights (26.49±0.87, kg) and they were allocated in 3 groups (4 goats in each). Multi nutrient blocks (MNB) were supplemented in first two groups i.e. in T₁ (no infection) and T₂(Haemonchus contortus infection @ 1500 larvae) group, while, condensed tannins (CT) containing multi nutrient blocks (MNB-CT) were supplemented in T₃(H. contortus infection @ 1500 larvae) group in completely randomized block design during a feeding trial of 75 days. All the animals were fed concentrate mixture @ 100g/day, adlib wheat straw and MNB or MNB-CT to meet their maintenance requirement. Daily intakes (kg W⁰.⁷⁵) of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), concentrate mixture, MNB, MNB-CT, wheat straw and digestibility of DM, OM, crude protein (CP) and acid detergent fibre (ADF) differed significantly (P<0.05) irrespective of groups. MNB-CT supplementation significantly (P<0.001) reduced serum urea (mg/dl) level and faecal egg counts (FECs) in T₃ group as compared to MNB supplemented (T₂) group. Serum proteins differed significantly (P<0.001) among groups. It maybe concluded that MNB-CT supplementation indicates a positive impact on protein bioavailability and encouraging impact on nutrient utilization, biochemical constituents and health status of goats by lowering serum urea and FECs.