Agro-ecological assessment of Western Leyte Area proximate to industrial site and evaluation of pasture vegetation and seaweed Eucheuma denticulatum (N. L. Burman, 1768) as feed for goats Capra aegagrus hircus (Linnaeus, 1758)

Western Leyte [Philippines] area is home for different industrial sites in the area. Industry and agriculture are the major economic contributors to the local economy. In agriculture particularly livestock production, goat's feed resources are among the cheapest in livestock production, only relying on indigenous, natural and diverse vegetation. The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of supplementation of fresh seaweed at different levels on the growth performance and blood profile of goats. Likewise, the duration of feeding fresh seaweed and its effect on different blood parameters were also studied. There was no significant difference in the growth performance of goats feed with different levels of supplementation of fresh seaweed. Red Blood Cell count had significant difference in comparison with the different values from the start of supplementation until the 60th day of feeding. On the other hand, all RBC values decreased during the 60th day of feeding compared to the commence of feeding trial. Hematocrit values had significant decrease during the 60-day feeding of seaweed supplementation across all levels. Hemoglobin values of goats supplemented with seaweed had significantly higher blood values at 6% level of supplementation compared to the other treatments. The values for white blood cells (WBC), platelet, segmenters and lymphocytes were not significantly affected by the level of supplementation and the duration of feeding. The biochemical parameters of the present study appeared non-significant in among the treatments most studied parameters (glucose, total carbohydrates, triglycerides, cholesterol, HDL, LDL, AST and creatinine). VLDL and BUN showed significant differences between the blood values taken at different time of collection and influenced by the pre and post prandial blood values. Cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL), low density lipoprotein (LDL), very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) were the blood biochemical parameters that were affected with the supplementation of seaweed in the goat diet. Continuous feeding of such type of seaweed may have some effects on the cholesterol metabolism and accumulation in the body and kidney function may be affected as well.