PERFORMANCE OF PREGNANT WEST AFRICAN DWARF GOATS FED GUINEA GRASS BASAL DIET AND CASSAVA PEEL AND LEAF MEAL BASED CONCENTRATE

This study evaluated the performance of pregnant WAD goats fed Guinea grass basal diet and cassava peel and leaf meal based concentrate supplement. Twelve (12) West African dwarf goats (does) after their second parity with average weight (19.378 ± 2.30 kg) (mean ± SD) were used. Goats with undesired features such as supernumerary teats, mange, desired characteristics were separated. Three pregnant does were randomly allocated in a completely randomized design (CRD), to the one of the four (4) experimental treatments of Guinea grass basal diets and concentrate supplements at 50 %. The hypothesis was that dietary inclusion of cassava leaves and peels at different levels would or would not affect the performance of pregnant goats.The control (T1) was compounded from conventional feed ingredients (wheat offal, palm kernel cake and other feed ingredients) which are expensive and not easily assessable to the local goat farmers who are in control of a larger population of West African dwarf goats. The other treatments (2, 3 and 4) were compounded by replacing the wheat offal and palm kernel cake with cassava peel meal and cassava leaf meal respectively at graded levels. Cassava peel and leaf meal are high energy and crude protein respectively and values are comparable to those of wheat offal and PKC. The diets were T1 (control), T2 (25 % replacement of wheat offal (WO) and Palm kernel cake (PKC), with cassava peel meal (CPM) and cassava leaf meal (CLM) respectively, T3 (50 % replacement of WO and PKC, with CLM and CPM respectively) and T4 (75 % replacement of WO and PKC, with CLM and CPM respectively). Feed was offered at 50 g DM /Kg BW and water was given ad lib. Feed intake, weight changes, feed conversion ratio, digestibility were monitored for pregnant goats. Dry matter intake from grass likewise concentrate was non – significant across the four treatments. Although, the observed variation was not significant, the total DM intakes of pregnant does fed diets of replacement of WO and PKC with CPM and CLM were higher than that of the control, apart from T2, and the values ranged from 588.60, 555.12, 610.36 and 617.63 g/d for TI, T2, T3 and T4 respectively. The highest weight gain was recorded in pregnant goats fed 50 % replacement of wheat offal and PKC with CPM and CLM (T3), while the lowest was in T4 (75 % replacement with CPM and CLM). Furthermore, the replacement levels in the respective treatments did not affect apparent digestibility of DM (which was above 80 % for the four treatments), CP (which increased non – significantly with increase in CLM content of the diet), EE, NDF, ADF and HMC of the pregnant WAD goats significantly. However, apparent digestibility of ash was significantly lowest in the control and highest in the diets replaced with CPM and CLM. This investigation has shown wheat offal and PKC can be replaced at 25 %, 50 % and 75 %, without negative effect on foetal development and successful gestation.

本研究评估了以高梁草为基础饲料，辅以木薯皮和叶粉浓缩补充料的怀孕WAD型山羊的饲养效果。选取了12只（12）产次为二的西非矮小山羊（母羊），平均体重为（19.378 ± 2.30 kg）（平均值 ± 标准差），并对具有额外乳头、疥癣等不良特征以及所需特性的山羊进行了分离。将三只怀孕母羊随机分配至完全随机设计（CRD）中的四个（4）实验处理组之一，处理组分别为高梁草基础饲料和50%的浓缩补充料。假设是，在饲料中添加不同比例的木薯叶和皮，可能会或可能不会影响怀孕山羊的表现。对照组（T1）由传统饲料原料（小麦副产品、棕榈仁饼和其他饲料原料）混合而成，这些原料成本高昂，不易为当地山羊养殖户所获得，而当地养殖户控制着大量西非矮小山羊。其他处理组（2、3和4）通过将小麦副产品和大麦仁饼分别用木薯皮粉（CPM）和木薯叶粉（CLM）按梯度比例替换。木薯皮粉和木薯叶粉分别富含高能量和粗蛋白，其数值与小麦副产品和大麦仁饼相当。饲料配方为T1（对照组）、T2（25%小麦副产品（WO）和棕榈仁饼（PKC）的替换，分别用木薯皮粉（CPM）和木薯叶粉（CLM）替代）、T3（50%WO和PKC的替换，分别用CLM和CPM替代）和T4（75%WO和PKC的替换，分别用CLM和CPM替代）。饲料的供应量为每千克体重干物质（DM）50克，水则不限量提供。对怀孕山羊的采食量、体重变化、饲料转化率和消化率进行了监测。在四种处理中，来自草料和浓缩饲料的干物质采食量均无显著差异。尽管观察到的变化不显著，但用WO和PKC的替代品（CPM和CLM）喂养的怀孕母羊的总DM采食量（除了T2外，分别为588.60、555.12、610.36和617.63克/天）均高于对照组。在T3（50%WO和PKC用CPM和CLM替代）中记录的最高体重增加，而在T4（75%用CPM和CLM替代）中记录的最低体重增加。此外，不同处理组中的替代比例对怀孕WAD山羊的DM（四种处理的表观消化率均超过80%）、CP（随饲料中CLM含量的增加非显著增加）、EE、NDF、ADF和HMC的表观消化率无显著影响。然而，对照组的灰分表观消化率显著最低，而用CPM和CLM替代的饲料的灰分表观消化率显著最高。此项研究显示，小麦副产品和大麦仁饼可以被25%、50%和75%的CPM和CLM替代，而不会对胎儿发育和成功的妊娠产生负面影响。