Effects of Vitamin E on Milk, Serum and Biochemical Parameters of Goat

Lactating animals are usually exposed to oxidative stress due to increase in metabolic activities thereby affecting milk composition, serum biochemistry and the activities of endogenous antioxidants. Administration of exogenous antioxidants such as vitamin E could mitigate the effects of the oxidative stress and improve production performance of the animals. This study was conducted to determine the effects of vitamin E administration on some milk constituents, serum oxidative status and biochemical parameters of lactating West African Dwarf goats. A total of eighteen lactating WAD does with mean live-weight of 17.5kg ± 0.04 were assigned randomly to three treatment groups consisting of six does per treatment. The animals in the treatment groups were administered with 0, 75 and 150 I.U of vitamin E once in a week for twelve weeks.