Blood hematological values of Barb horses in Algeria.

The Barb horse this famous Maghreb horse, symbol of the pride of the Berber peoples It is particularly significant in the Algerian history, tradition and culture. This study consists in establishing the hematologic values specific to the Barb horse in the national stud farm "Chaou-Chaoua" in Tiaret. Algeria. Age of the study animals varied between 1 and 23 years. The effects of age and sex were analyzed by dividing animals into four groups, A (1 - 2 years, n=5), B (3-5 years, n=5), C (5-10 years, n=5) and D (11-23 years, n=5); for females and E (2 - 3 years, n=5), F (5-7, n=5), G (10, n=5) and H (11-25, n=5) for males. Animals studied were clinically healthy. A blood sampling was carried out from all study animals, the following hematologic variables have been determined: erytrocytes (RBC), hematocrit (Ht), hemoglobin (Hb), mean cell volume (MCV), mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC), mean hemoglobin content (MHC), white blood cells (WBC), neutrophils, eosinophils, basophils, lymphocytes, monocytes, platelets, total number of platelets (PLT) and mean platelet volume (MPV). The obtained results showed that the hematologic values are within established standards for the other breeds of hot-blooded horses; these values approached the lower limits of the standards for the RBCs, HCT, Hb, WBCs and the lymphocytes. Statically significant (P<0.05) differences were observed between females in different age groups for the MCV, MCHC, Platelets and the MPV. Groups of males showed significant differences for lymphocytes and platelets and between males and females, significant differences related to the MCV, Neutrophils, Basophils Monocytes, Platelet and the MPV. This research showed that these hematologic parameters are weak, they approach the lower limits of the standards and that neither the age, nor the sex seem to have an influence on the hematologic values of the Barb horse.