The response of some blood constituents after administration of two different diets in goats

Twenty clinically healthy goats were divided into two equal groups based on two different diets. Goats in group A were fed with 25 % barley, 12 % oat, 15 % faba bean, 10 % pea, 20 % sugar beet pulps, 5 % molasses and 3 % mineral. Goats in group B were fed with 25 % corn, 15 % soybean hulls, 12 % soybean meal, 10 % sunflower meal, 20 % sugar beet pulps, 5 % molasses and 3 % mineral. To establish the effect of diet composition on haematological and biochemical concentrations, blood samples were collected from the external jugular vein once a week, for 1 month (T0-T4), twice daily (0700 and 1800 hours). Multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) showed a significant effect of different diets (P < 0.01) and periods (P < 0.001) on serum total protein and urea concentrations. Also, a significant effect of time of day (P < 0.001) was observed on urea serum concentration. In conclusion, different diet composition had an influence on serum total protein and urea concentrations. A diet with 25 % corn induce an increase of serum total protein concentration and a decrease of serum urea concentration compared with a diet with 25 % barley.