Feed Intake and Nutrient Digestibility of Growing Yankasa Rams Fed Sorghum Stover Supplemented with Graded Levels of Dried Poultry Droppings Based Diet
The use of conventional feedstuff such as groundnut cake, fish meal, etc. as
supplement to low quality feed may not be cost effective in present day Nigeria
to intensify production, owing to their high cost, irregular supply. Its
pertinent therefore to shift attention to the use of non-conventional protein
materials of farm waste origin such as poultry droppings. This study was therefore
initiated to determine the feed intake and nutrient digestibility of growing
Yankasa rams fed sorghum stover supplemented with graded levels of dried poultry
dropping based diets. Thirty growing Yankasa rams aged 9-12 months, weighing
11.5-15.5 kg were randomly divided into five groups (6 in each) and assigned
to five supplemental diets designated T1-T5. Fresh poultry
droppings were sun-dried for 3-5 days to minimize the level of microbes present.
Thereafter the product were milled and included in rams diet at 0, 20,
40, 60 and 80%. Animals were fed in the morning (supplementary) and evening
(basal diets). Salt-lick, water were also provided. Data were collected on feed
intake and nutrient digestibility coefficient. Results showed that rams fed
the control diet significantly (p<0.05) had lower feed intake as well as
apparent nutrient digestibility coefficient when compared with the rams fed
dried poultry droppings based diets. It was concluded that dried poultry droppings
inclusion up to 80% in the diet of the rams enhances feed intake and nutrient
digestibility and thus increases live weight gain. Therefore, sun-dried poultry
droppings can satisfactorily supplement sorghum Stover up to 80% inclusion level. PDFFulltextXMLReferencesCitation
How to cite this article
A.A. Bello and D.N. Tsado, 2013. Feed Intake and Nutrient Digestibility of Growing Yankasa Rams Fed Sorghum Stover Supplemented with Graded Levels of Dried Poultry Droppings Based Diet. Asian Journal of Animal Sciences, 7: 56-63.