GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF RED SOKOTO BUCKS FED BASAL DIET OF DIGITARIA SMUTSII HAY SUPPLEMENTED WITH CONCENTRATE CONTAINING CASSAVA PEEL MEAL AND DIFFERENT NITROGEN SOURCES

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the growth performance of Red Sokoto bucks fed basal diet of Digitaria smutsii hay supplemented with concentrate containing cassava peel meal and different nitrogen sources. A total number of 28 Red Sokoto bucks with average liveweight of 12.55±1.25kg were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments with 7 animals per treatment in a completely randomized design (CRD). The concentrate diets contained cotton seed cake (Control), Groundnut haulms, Poultry litter (Broiler litter) and Brewers dried grains (BDG) as nitrogen sources designated as CON, GHT, PLT and BDGT respectively. The bucks were individually pen fed with concentrate diet at 1.5% of their body weight, while basal diet of Digitaria smutsii hay and water were offered ad-libitum for the period of 90 days. Results obtained showed no significant difference (P>0.05) in total dry matter intake across the treatment diets. Average daily weight gain (ADWG) was significantly affected (P<0.05) by the treatments. The bucks that received diet containing poultry litter had comparable growth rates to the bucks fed the control diet with the highest ADWG while other nitrogen sources supported significantly (P<0.05) lower ADWG. Feed conversion ratio was significantly (P<0.05) better in bucks fed on CON compared to other dietary treatments. It is concluded that, cassava peel meal and poultry litter in the concentrate diet could perhaps be fed to bucks for improved weight gain as alternative to expensive conventional feed ingredients as they do not have deleterious effects on the animals.