To observe the effect of various conventional herbs such as Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum graecum), Giloy (Tinospora cordifolia) and Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus) in livestock feeding, the present research work was conducted on twenty four Sahiwal cattle of lactation age group. The duration of experimental period was 120 days. Sahiwal cattle were randomly distributed into four dietary treatment groups composed with six animals in each group. The different dietary programme used in the study were as follows: T0 (Control group); Basal diet only, T1; Basal diet+100 g Fenugreek seed powder, T2; Basal diet+100 g Giloy stem powder and T3; Basal diet+100 g Shatavari root powder along with the concentrate feed. For evaluation of haematological parameters blood samples were collected from each cattle. Parameters  viz.,  haemoglobin, packed cell volume, total erythrocyte count, total leukocyte count and differential leukocyte were measured by using standard procedures in laboratory. The statistical analysis of the data revealed non-significant effect of dietary supplementation of various herbal feed additives on haematological parameters of lactating. Sahiwal cattle except the packed cell volume which differed significantly (p>0.05) that suggested no harmful effect on general health condition of experimental cattle.

The present investigation was performed at Instructional Dairy Farm (IDF), Nagla, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, G.B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology, Pantnagar, Uttrakhand. A total of twenty-four Sahiwal cattle in lactation were selected, and they were divided into four treatment groups at random, with six animals in each group. The average milk output, uniform parity, and identical lactation stage were used to establish each group. Adaptation period of one week was provided to all experimental animals before beginning of experiment. Control group T0 were kept with only basal diet. Treatment groups T1, T2, and T3 were supplemented with Fenugreek seed powder (Trigonella foenum-graecum), Giloy (Tinospora cordifolia) stem powder and Shatavari (Asparagus racemosus) root powder along with concentrate feed @100 g/animal/day, respectively for period of 120 days. After collection of blood it was transferred to EDTA coated vials for complete blood count. PCV was measured using  macro-haematocrit method and Hb was estimated using Sahli-Hellige haemoglobinometer. Total erythrocyte count (TEC) and total leukocytes count (TLC) was carried out using haemocyometer as per standard method used by Benjamin (1978). Differential leucocyte count (DLC) was carried out as per the standard method described by Jain (1986) using the Gimsa stain. 

Statistical analysis. The experimental data obtained in the present study was recorded and analyzes statistically by using One way analysis of variance (ANOVA) by using SPSS software (Snedecor and Cochran 1994).

Mean values of Hb, PCV, total erythrocytes count (TEC), total leukocyte count (TLC) and differential leukocyte count (DLC) of experimental animals have been presented in Table 1. The study reported non-significant effect of dietary supplementation of Fenugreek seed, Giloy stem and Shatavari root powder on all the haematological parameters of Sahiwal cattle except packed cell volume. The mean PCV values were significantly (p<0.05) improved in T1 treatment groups as compared to T2 treatment group. However, the values were statistically similar to the control group T0 and T3. On the other hand T2 group showed statistical resemblance with control group T0. The hematological parameters of Sahiwal cattle in all the treatment groups were found within the normal range which indicates no harmful effect on general health condition.

In addition, Hendawy et al. (2019) suggested non-significant effect of dietary supplementation some medicinal plants on haemoglobin content of lactating ewes. Contrary to the present findings Mallick et al. (2011); El-Tarabany et al. (2018) reported significant changes in haematological parameters of dairy goats as a result of dietary supplementation of Fenugreek seeds at the level of 50g and 100 g.

Table 1:  Effect of dietary supplementation of Fenugreek, Giloy and Shatavari on hematological parameters (Mean±SE) of Sahiwal Cattle.

Means bearing different superscript in a row differ significantly (p<0.05)