Effects of haematinics on body weight and certain haematological values in sheep

Effects of haematinics on body weight gain and certain haematological values were studied on nine sheep of 1 to 2 years old, divided into three groups (A, B & C), each consisting of 3 sheep during the period from 15 January to 28 February 2002. Sheep of group B were treated with copper sulphate and cobalt sulphate @ 50 mg and 1 mg / head / day respectively and the sheep of group C, in addition to copper and cobalt sulphate, were treated orally with ferrous sulphate @ 200 mg / head / day along with IM injection of Vit-B12 (B50 Forte®, Square) @ 5 ml / sheep every 15 days interval for a period of 45 days whereas group A served as untreated control. Results showed that the body weight gain were significantly (p < 0.05) increased in the haematinics treated groups B and C (12.67 ± 2.33 g and 13.57 ± 2.24 g respectively) in comparison to control (9.37 ± 0.58 g) at 45 days of treatment. Haematological examination showed significantly (p < 0.01) increased haemoglobin (9.33 ± 0.42 g% and 10.0 ± 0.06 g%), packed cell volume (29.0 ± 0.58 % and 30.0 ± 0.58 %), total erythrocyte count (9.67 ± 0.22 and 10.27 ± 0.25 106 / mm3), and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration (32.26 ± 0.83 and 32.28 ± 0.53%) in the treated groups B and C at 45 days of treatment respectively. The present findings indicate that the supplementation of haematinics could be used in improving the general health condition in sheep and the haematological values.Key words: Haematinics; body weight; haematological values; Black Bengal goatsdoi: 10.3329/bjvm.v2i2.2559Bangl. J. Vet. Med. (2004). 2 (2): 151-153