Blood haemogram in Ovis aries and Capra hyrcus: effect of storage time

The aim of the present study was to assess the effect of storage time at +4 °C on haematological profile in goat (n = 25) and sheep (n = 25). After collection, blood samples were immediately analyzed and then divided into four aliquots that were stored at 4 °C and tested at 24 h (T1), 48 h (T2), 72 h (T3), and 1 wk (T4), respectively. One-way repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine statistically significant effect of storage conditions both in goats and in sheep. Our results showed that among the two species studied, goats showed highest blood stability after refrigeration at +4 °C. In goats, all hematological parameters, except PLT, showed no significant changes during all days of monitoring with respect to basal values (T0). In sheep, no significantly effect of storage time on RBC and WBC levels were found, whereas the other hematological parameters change significantly over the time. Our findings suggest that the blood storage time reported for goat may not be applied to sheep’s blood, which underscore the differences between these two species that are erroneously considered similar.