DefinePK

Abstract

This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of dried mixture of five herbal plants as natural additives on milk yield and composition of cross bred dairy goats. Thirty lactating goats after two weeks of kidding were divided into 3 groups ten animals each using complete random block design to evaluate the effect of herbal mixture supplement on the productivity of lactating goats. Treatment 2 T2 and treatment 3 T3 were supplemented with polyherbal combination at the rate of 125 and 250 mg kg-1 body weight, respectively. Goats without polyherbal combination served as Control group T1. Animals were fed on 40 concentrate feed mixture and green fodder ad libitum. Dry Matter Intake DMI was slightly increased for animals fed on T2 ration compared to T1 and T3. Apparent nutrients digestibility and Total Digestible Nutrients TDN were significantly improved by treatments. Milk yield, 4 Fat Corrected Milk FCM, milk protein, fat, total solids, feed efficiency DMIMilk yield and DMI4 FCM and economic efficiency were significantly higher for animals fed T2 followed by T3 and then T1 control. Glucose contents and Total Leukocyte Count TLC were higher in animals which received experimental additives than those received control. Results clearly indicated that combination of herbal supplementation in different treatments recorded the lowest rate of Dry Matter Digestibility DMD compared to control group. It may be concluded that adding the combination of polyherbal supplementation to rations improved the productivity of lactating goats with no deleterious effects on general health.