IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/ibn/jasjnl/v10y2017i1p27.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Effect of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) Pasture Grazing on Growth, Gastrointestinal Parasite Infection and Immune Response Biomarkers of Goat

Author

Listed:
  • Mulumebet Worku
  • Sarah Adjei-Fremah
  • Niki Whitley
  • Louis Jackai

Abstract

The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of grazing cowpea pastures on growth, parasite egg count and biomarkers of immune response in goats. Spanish and Savannah goats (n = 48) stratified by initial body weight (42.0±7.0 kg) and fecal egg count (FEC), were randomly assigned to three pasture forages (Cowpea varieties- Mississippi silver (MS), or Iron and Clay (IC) or Pearl millet (PM) as control with 4 replicates, for a 28-day feeding trial. Forage samples collected at the start of the study were analyzed for nutrients, chemical and polyphenols content. Body weight, body condition score, and fecal egg count were measured weekly. Blood was collected from goats on days 0 and 28 for PCV and white blood cell differential counts. The concentration of total proteins, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) were evaluated in blood serum. Concentration of DNA isolated from fecal samples was used as a measure of gut health. Goats grazed on cowpea forage (MS and IC) had higher body weight (p = 0.01) compared to goats grazed on PM. Percent lymphocyte (p = 0.008) and neutrophil (p = 0.013) increased in MS fed goats. Goats grazed on MS pasture had decreased FEC (p = 0.03) also. Cowpea pasture grazing had no effect on serum protein concentration, PCV and BCS (p > 0.05), but decreased PGE2 concentration in serum. The concentration of TAC in serum, increased at day 28 (p < 0.05). The concentration of fecal microbial DNA decreased in all the treatment groups at day 28. Cowpea forage grazing had an impact on body weight, FEC, and blood serum parameters (PGE2, TAC) in goats. These results demonstrate that freshly grazed cowpea forage has potential impact and benefits on growth and health of goats. Integrating cowpea diet in goat feeding system may enhance growth performance, stimulate and prime the immune system for defense against gastrointestinal parasites.

Suggested Citation

  • Mulumebet Worku & Sarah Adjei-Fremah & Niki Whitley & Louis Jackai, 2017. "Effect of Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) Pasture Grazing on Growth, Gastrointestinal Parasite Infection and Immune Response Biomarkers of Goat," Journal of Agricultural Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 10(1), pages 1-27, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:ibn:jasjnl:v:10:y:2017:i:1:p:27
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jas/article/download/70863/39612
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jas/article/view/70863
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mulumebet Worku & Ahmed Abdalla & Sarah Adjei-Fremah & Hamid Ismail, 2016. "The Impact of Diet on Expression of Genes Involved in Innate Immunity in Goat Blood," Journal of Agricultural Science, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 8(3), pages 1-1, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      More about this item

      JEL classification:

      • R00 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General - - - General
      • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

      Statistics

      Access and download statistics

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ibn:jasjnl:v:10:y:2017:i:1:p:27. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Canadian Center of Science and Education (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cepflch.html .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.