INTAKE AND WEIGHT GAIN OF WEST AFRICAN DWARF GOATS FED PANICUM MAXIMUM SUPPLEMENTED WITH MULTI-NUTRIENT FEED BLOCK

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the intake and weight gain of West African dwarf (WAD) goats fed Panicum maximum supplemented with Multi-nutrient feed blocks (MNB). Twelve (12) West Africa dwarf (WAD) goats aged between 4-5 months, with average body weight of 7.0841.83kg were used for the study. The WAD goats were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments with three goats per treatment in a completely randomized design. The animals were fed with panicummaximum supplemented with MNB without browse plant inclusion (T1), Chromolaena odorata based-MNB (T2), Tithonia diversifolia based- MNB (T3) and Merremiaaegyptia based-MNB (T4) for 84 days. Results showed that there were no significant differences (P>0.05) in the total dry matter intake af WAD goats across the treatments. The dry matter intakes ranged from 782.83.43g/day in goats fed Merremiaaegyptia based-multi-nutrient block to 922.06g/day in goats fed multi-nutrient block without browse plant. The final weight and weight gain were significantly higher (P < 0.05) and similar (P>0.05) in animals fed Chromolaena based-MNB, Tithonia based- MNB and Merremia based-MNB while animals fed control MNB recorded the least values. The study concluded that forage based-MNBs should be fed to WAD goats as supplement since animals placed on forage based-MNBs had the best performance terms of final weight and daily weight gain.