Effects of supplementing probiotics and concentrate on intake, growth performance and blood profile of intensively kept Sahelian does fed a basal diet of Brachiaria decumbens grass

ABSTRACT The study was conducted to determine the effects of supplementing probiotics and concentrates on intake and growth performance of Sahelian does fed Brachiaria decumbens grass. Twenty-four Sahelian does averaging one year and weighing 13.3 ± 1.16 kg were assigned randomly in a 2 × 2 factorial arrangement to four treatments in a Completely Randomized Design with 6 replicates and used to measure intake and live weight changes for 14 weeks. The factors were levels of concentrate and probiotics. Blood samples were taken for the determination of haematological and biochemical parameters. The results revealed differences (P < 0.05) in total dry matter intake, live weight changes and feed conversion ratio attributable to treatment effects. The differences observed in total dry matter intake led to improvements in average daily gain, feed conversion ratio and growth rate. All blood haematological indices with the exception of mean cell volume were impacted positively by treatment effects. White blood cell and total protein contents improved linearly with probiotics and higher level of concentrate supplementation, while total cholesterol content declined (P < 0.05). The results highlighted the positive impact of probiotics and higher level of concentrate supplementation on growth performance and blood profile of growing Sahelian does on a basal diet of Brachiaria decumbens grass.