Haemato-biochemical indices and antioxidant status of layers-fed diets supplemented with garlic-composite leaf mix

Abstract

The study aimed to evaluate haemato-biochemical indices and antioxidant status in laying hens fed varying levels of garlic-composite leaf mix (GCM), addressing limited research in this area. A twelve-week feeding trial was conducted at the Poultry unit of the Teaching and Research Farm (TRF) of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), in Nigeria. The soursop, avocado, sandpaper, and gliricidia leaves were manually harvested, air-dried, and milled to produce the GCM; and then combined with garlic in a 2:2:2:3:1 ratio, respectively. The mix was added to the basal diet, designated as diet 1 (control, 0 g/kg), diet 2 (5 g/kg), diet 3 (10 g/kg), diet 4 (15 g/kg), and diet 5 (20 g/kg). A total of 135 hens were distributed across these 5 dietary treatments with 3 replicates, each containing 9 birds, in a completely randomized design. Packed cell volume, red blood cell count, and haemoglobin concentration showed significant differences (p < 0.05), whereas other haematological parameters did not (p > 0.05). Mean cell haemoglobin concentration presented higher values observed in the GCM-fed groups (32.45 ± 0.51 - 32.74 ± 0.34 g/dl) compared to the control diet (32.13 ± 0.07 g/dl). White blood cell counts were highest (6.60 ± 1.27×10⁶/L) in birds fed diet 4. Alanine aminotransferase levels were lowest (10.20 ± 2.31 IU/L) in birds fed diet 3 and highest (14.40 ± 0.35) in those supplemented with diet 5. Superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase levels increased significantly (p < 0.05) in birds fed the test diets. Catalase levels were higher (78.56 ± 11.74) in birds on the control diet than those on test diets (20.46 ± 2.13 - 56.86 ± 19.78). The study concluded that the inclusion of GCM had no adverse effects on the health of laying hens but rather helped maintained their haematological, blood serum, and antioxidant parameters.