GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF FATTENING RAMS FED DIETS CONTAINING SUGARCANE PEEL MEAL IN THE SAVANNA ZONES OF NORTHERN NIGERIA

Abstract

The study was designed and conducted to evaluate the performance of rams under fattening regime using diets containing sugarcane peels as inclusion. Five different diets containing levels of sugarcane peels were formulated to replace wheat offal at 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% respectively. The experimental diets were coded as A, B, C, D and E. Fifteen Yankasa rams of between 18 – 24 months were used for the study. The rams were kept in a partitioned pen after properly quarantined. The rams were dewormed and administered with antibiotics against minor ailments. The fattening evaluation lasted for seventy (70) days. Average initial weight of the rams were taken and subsequently, weekly weight gain were recorded using weighing scale. There was an increase in weight gain compared to the initial weight. Diet A significantly recorded 34.67 kg followed by 34.57 kg for diet B with 37.00 kg for diet C while diet D recorded 35.77 kg and 33.67 kg for diet E respectively. With this result, there is need to improve the quality of the compositional ingredients to enrich the feed containing sugarcane peel for more utilization as a replacement.