NUTRIENT INTAKE AND PERFORMANCE OF UDA RAMS FED GRADED LEVELS OF Piliostigma reticulatum pods IN SEMI-ARID NIGERIA

Abstract

The study was conducted to assess the intake of Piliostigma reticulatum pods by Uda rams in semi arid environment of Nigeria. Twelve Uda rams were randomly allocated to 4 treatment diets with 3 rams in each treatment to serve as replicate and were housed individually in a completely randomized design (CRD) with

inclusion levels of 0, 10, 20 and 30% Piliostigma reticulatum pods to serve as treatments 1, 2, 3 and 4, respectively. The feeding trial was designed to last for a period of 10 weeks in which daily records of feed intake were taken. The data generated was subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Where significant differences

between the means were indicated, Duncan’s Multiple Range test (DMRT) wAS useD to separate the means. Results of proximate composition indicated that dry matter values rangeD from 96.76 to 98.49% in treatments D and A, respectively. Crude protein values ranged from 11.25 to 16.38% in C and A, respectively. Crude fibre values ranged from 23.02 to 26.03% in treatments C and D, respectively. There were significant (P<0.05) differences among all the parameters measured for nutrient intake. Feed intake indicated that there was no significant difference between treatments A, B and D, but treatment C differed (P<0.05) significantly. Dry

matter intake (DMI) of animals in treatment C is low with 657.73(g) while treatment B has the highest DMI with 802.50 (g). The variation obtained in treatment C for crude fiber, clearly showed that the result was associated with individual differences that naturally exist among the experimental animals. Treatment A utilized protein better than other treatments, this is because it has or contains other sources of protein, such as soybean meal and cowpea husk but no kalgo pods. The study concluded that inclusion of Piliostigma reticulatum in the diets of Uda rams did not affect nutrient intake.