Department of Animal Science, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria; Department of Animal Science and Fisheries, College of Agriculture, Osun State University, Osun State, Nigeria
Ososanya, T.O., Department of Animal Science, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria; Alabi, B.O., Department of Animal Science and Fisheries, College of Agriculture, Osun State University, Osun State, Nigeria; Sorunke, A.O., Department of Animal Science, University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
In the tropics, dry season is characterized by shortage of feeds and staggered growth pattern of ruminants. Corncob (CC) and Cowpea Husk (CH), the by-products of maize and cowpea production respectively may be used as alternative feed resources for ruminants especially during dry season. Therefore, a ten week study was conducted to determine the effects of CC and CH based diets on performance of WAD sheep. In a randomized complete block design, sixteen WAD sheep were allotted to four dietary treatments: A (100% CC), B (66.7% CC + 33.3% CH), C (33.3% CC + 66.7% CH) and D (100% CH). The sheep were allotted to any of the four diets with four animals per treatment. Parameters measured include: dry matter intake, live weight changes, feed conversion ratio and nutrient digestibility. Results showed significant (p<0.05) differences in dry matter intake (22.04 kg in diet A to 41.07 kg in diet C) and LWG (4.14 g/day in diet A to 41.71 g/day in diet C) of sheep across the diets. Also, there were significant (p<0.05) differences in FCR across the diets. The FCR ranged from 14.06 in diet C to 45.68 in diet A. Nutrients digestibility increased with increasing level of cowpea husk in the diets. The DM digestibility value ranged from 65.24% in diet B to 85.04% in diet D. The CP digestibility was also highest in diet D (88.01%) and lowest in diet A (72.06%) while ADF, NDF and ADL were highest in diet C and lowest in diet B. Optimum weight gain and efficient utilization was achieved at 66.7% CH and 33.3% CC inclusion levels. © Asian Network for Scientific Information, 2013.
animal experiment; animal food; article; controlled study; corncob; cowpea; cowpea husk; dry matter intake; feed conversion ratio; female; food composition; maize; nonhuman; nutrient digestibility; nutritional parameters; plant residue; sheep; weight change; weight gain; Animalia; Ovis aries; Zea mays