Authors : O.S. Adedeji , G.O. Farinu , S.A. Ameen and T.B. Olayeni
Abstract: The effects of dietary dry seed powder of G. kola (Bitter cola) at inclusion levels of (O, 10, 20, 30 and 40g per kg of feed), on heamatological parameters body weights and survival rate of pullets chicks were investigated in a study that lasted eight weeks. 250- day old pullet chicks were randomly allocated to five treatment groups. A treatment contained two replicates of 25 birds each. Results showed that G. Kola (Bitter Cola) dry seed powder inclusion in the diet improved weight gain in groups B, C, D and E.This compared favourable with that of the control group A. Weight gain for group E fed 40 g kg 1 feed dry seed powder of bitter cola was lowest when compared to other groups. Highest weight gain was however recorded for the group D birds (30 g kg 1 feed) dry seed power of bitter cola. For the period the experiment lasted, results in this study showed that the higher the level of inclusion of dry powered seed of Bitter Kola in the diet the lower the mortality rate recorded. This supports the antimicrobial activity of Garcinia Kola, as already documented in literatures. Heamatological (parameters such as Pack Cell Volume (PCV), Heamoglobin concentration (Hb), Red Blood Cells (RBC), Mean Corpuscular Heamoglobin MCH, Mean Corpuscular Volume (MCV), for test groups B, C, D and E were not significantly different from that of the control group A. However there was a significant (p<0.05) proliferation of the White Blood Cells (WBC), specifically the lymphocytes in this study. This probably explains the antimicrobial effect of Garcinia cola seeds, in views of the major role that the lymphocytes assume in the immune defense mechanism of the body, in both man and animals.
O.S. Adedeji , G.O. Farinu , S.A. Ameen and T.B. Olayeni , 2006. The Effects of Dietary Bitter Kola (Garcinia kola) Inclusion on Body Weight, Heamatology and Survival Rate of Pullet Chicks. Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances, 5: 184-187.