رسائل ماجيستير
English
2005
Seasonal Variations in Blood Constituents and Milk Composition of One-Humped Camel Camelus dromedarius
Abdalla M. Abdelatif, Alia Saeed Ahmed Amin
كلية الطب البيطري-جامعة الخرطوم · السودان
The present study has been conducted in order to investigate theseasonal variation as well as the effect of age and sex on certain bloodconstituents in the one-humped camels (Camelus dromedarius).Furthermore, the seasonal variation in the milk composition and thebotanical and chemical composition of plant parts consumed by camelswere investigated. The study has been conducted on 210 indigenousArabian camel of different age (1-18 years) and sex, and kept undernatural range in Southern Darfur.The data analysis revealed that the season had significant effectson some of the haematological indices, metabolites and mineralconcentrations. These parameters showed slight variations related to ageand sex. The red blood cells count, lymphocytes and basophilspercentages increased significantly during the dry season, while theosmotic resistance, MCV, MCH and neutrophils percentage increasedsignificantly during the green season. The serum levels of total protein,globulins and triglycerides increased significantly during the dry season,while the levels of plasma glucose, serum urea, creatinine, phosphorus(P) and calcium (Ca) increased significantly during the green season.The PCV, neutrophils percentage, serum total protein and serum Caconcentration increased significantly with age, while the lymphocytespercentage, serum P and serum sodium (Na) concentration decreasedsignificantly with age. The red blood cells count and PCV level were theonly investigated parameters that showed significant intersexdifferences. The levels of red blood cells count and PCV weresignificantly higher in males.The study showed that seasonal variation has a marked effect onmilk composition. The percentages of milk moisture and fat increasedsignificantly during the dry season, while lactose percentage increasedsignificantly during the green season.The findings of the present study indicate that camels are selectivebrowser rather than grazer. Furthermore, they are selective feeder to theparts of pasture plants they consume. The percentages of crude protein(CP), crude fibre (CF) and nitrogen free extract (NFE) of pasture plantsselected by camels were significantly higher, while ash percentage wassignificantly lower during the dry season.The results obtained in the present study indicate that thenutritional state could induce significant changes in the physiologicalresponses of the dromedary camel; the available forage during the greenseason improved the body condition, the blood metabolites and mineralprofile of camels and the milk composition.The results indicate that despite camel’s selectivity and uniqueadaptation to arid conditions, glucose, urea, P and Ca levels were lowerduring the dry season. Therefore, it could be beneficial to provideconcentrate feed to camels kept under dry tropical conditions.