Feed Intake, Growth Performance and Carcass Characteristics of West African Dwarf Sheep Fed Moringa oleifera, Gliricidia sepium or Cassava Fodder as Supplements to Panicum maximum
Journal Title: Journal of Experimental Agriculture International - Year 2016, Vol 14, Issue 4
Abstract
The performance and carcass characteristics of West African dwarf (WAD) sheep fed Panicum maximum supplemented with Moringa oleifera, Gliricidia sepium or cassava fodder, were investigated in a randomized complete block and completely randomized design experiments respectively. Twenty four growing WAD sheep (10.7 kg average live weight) were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments: 1: 100% P. maximum (control), 2: 75% P. maximum + 25% M. oleifera, 3: 75% P. maximum + 25% G. sepium, 4: 75% P. maximum + 25% Cassava leaves. Dry matter (DM) intake (g/kgW0.75/day) ranged between 74.6 for treatment 4 and 92.7 for treatment 3. Crude protein (CP) intake in treatment 3 was higher than in treatments 1 and 4. Growth rate ranged between 6.53 g/day to 12.74 g/day for treatments 1 and 4 respectively while treatments 2 and 4 had better feed conversion ratio than treatment 1. Average dressing percentage was 33.9% and there was no significant difference in the carcass characteristics among the various treatments. It was concluded that Moringa oleifera is a suitable alternative to Gliricidia sepium as supplement in small ruminant diets.
Authors and Affiliations
A. A. Fadiyimu, J. A. Alokan, A. N. Fajemisin, G. E. Onibi
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP351296
- DOI 10.9734/JEAI/2016/25167
- Views 76
- Downloads 0
Estimation of Lead (Pb) Flux, Distance of Travel and Break through Time Using Convective Flux Equations: A Case Study of Farmlands around Lead (Pb) Contaminated Goldmine in Zamfara Nigeria
Estimating the transport and fate of chemicals released into the environment is an interesting and challenging task. The global environment is diverse on the chemical transport and fate scale. This paper applies the math...
Effect of Petroleum Products Treatment of Soil on Succinate Dehydogenase and Lactate Dehydogenase Activities in Cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) and Maize (Zea mays) Seedlings
Aim: Most of the land in oil producing area in the Niger delta region of Nigeria is under constant petroleum pollution exposing the soil to the deleterious effect of petroleum hydrocarbons. The effects of petroleum produ...
Effect of Cowdung, NPK AND Rhizobium Inocula on Nodules Number, Yield Contributing Attributes and Yield of Summer Mungbean (Vigna radiata) in Acid Soil
A field experiment was conducted to see the effect of cowdung, NPK and Rhizobium inocula on nodules number, yield contributing attributes and yield of summer mungbean (var. Binamoog-8), in acid soil at the farm of Agricu...
Performance and Gut Morphometry of Broiler Fed Maize Based Diets Supplemented with Charcoal and Honey as Anti-aflatoxin
The study was conducted to assess The effect of charcoal and honey on the zoo technical performance and gut morphometry of broiler birds fed naturally aflatoxins contaminated maize based diets in a comparative study was...
Fertility Management for Cassava Production in the Centre Region of Cameroon
Cassava is a major food crop in Cameroon. It has the capacity to grow under poor soils or drought conditions. However, little is known about the impact of fertilizer application on cassava production on poor ferralitic s...