GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND LINEAR BODY MEASUREMENT OF RED SOKOTO GOATS FED CONCENTRATE PARTIALLY REPLACED WITH Piliostigma thonningii FORAGE

Abstract

Fifteen Red Sokoto bucklings of about 6-7 months, with an average initial body weight (BW) of 6.6 ± 0.71 kg, were used to study the effects of concentrate partially replaced with Piliostigma thonningii forage on the growth performance and linear body measurement in a 70-day experiment. The bucklings, balanced for their BW, were distributed into three groups of five animals in a completely randomized design experiment. The bucklings in group I received 100% concentrate (PTO), group 2 received 25% of concentrate replaced with Piliostigma foliage (PT25) and group 3 received 50% concentrate replaced with P. thonningii forage (PT50). The diets were fed at the goats' 5% BW while the basal diet, threshed sorghum head (TSH) was provided ad-libitum. Intakes of dry matter, TSH, crude protein and average daily gain were not significantly (p > 0.05) affected by the diets. Intakes of concentrate, organic matter and ash were significantly (p < 0.05) different among the treatments. Linear body measurements were positively significantly correlated (p < 0.0001) with final BW. It is concluded that P. thonningii forage can replace 50% concentrate when bucklings are fed a basal diet of TSH.