Table 3.
Complete blood count and serum urea N concentrations in gestating ewes offered alfalfa silages baled at different moisture concentrations and averaged across different dairy slurry application treatments1
| Moisture2 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Item3 | LM | RM | SEM4 | P-value |
| WBC, K/µL | 6.2 | 6.8 | 0.29 | 0.19 |
| NEU, % | 34.2 | 38.0 | 2.31 | 0.32 |
| NEU:LYM | 1.0 | 1.4 | 0.24 | 0.25 |
| LYM, % | 39.7 | 32.2 | 1.54 | 0.01 |
| MONO, % | 12.6 | 16.4 | 1.20 | 0.07 |
| EOS, % | 11.2 | 10.4 | 1.51 | 0.74 |
| BASO, % | 2.3 | 3.1 | 0.44 | 0.28 |
| NEU, K/µL | 2.1 | 2.8 | 0.32 | 0.24 |
| LYM, K/µL | 2.5 | 2.1 | 0.18 | 0.24 |
| MONO, K/µL | 0.8 | 1.1 | 0.07 | 0.03 |
| EOS, K/µL | 0.7 | 0.7 | 0.11 | 0.90 |
| BASO, K/µL | 0.1 | 0.2 | 0.03 | 0.16 |
| RBC, M/µL | 10.8 | 10.7 | 0.13 | 0.71 |
| HGB, g/dL | 11.7 | 11.3 | 0.23 | 0.31 |
| HCT, % | 35.8 | 35.4 | 0.40 | 0.58 |
| MCV, fL | 33.2 | 33.1 | 0.12 | 0.88 |
| MCH, pg | 10.8 | 10.5 | 0.14 | 0.26 |
| MCHC, g/dL | 32.6 | 31.9 | 0.45 | 0.35 |
| PLT, K/µL | 455 | 536 | 150.6 | 0.74 |
| SUN5, mg/dL | 25.7 | 24.1 | 1.56 | 0.17 |
1There were no moisture × slurry interactions (P ≥ 0.13).
2LM = low moisture at baling (39.7%); RM = recommended moisture at baling (46.8%).
3WBC = white blood cells; NEU = neutrophils; NEU:LYM = neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio; LYM = lymphocytes; MONO = monocytes; EOS = eosinophils; BASO = basophils; RBC = red blood cells; HGB = hemoglobin; HCT = hematocrit; MCV = mean corpuscular volume; MCH = mean corpuscular hemoglobin; MCHC = mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration; PLT = platelets; SUN = serum urea N.
4SEM = pooled standard error of the mean.
5SUNs are averaged across collection times as there were no two- and three-way interactions of treatments with time (P ≥ 0.17).