A Comparative Study of the Constituents of Cattle, Sheep and Goat milk in a Hot – Humid Environment

Abstract

The milk constituents of fifteen lactating ruminant livestock, comprising each of white Fulani cows, West African Dwarf(WAD) does and WAD ewes, were evaluated and compared in a 12-week study. The animals were selected from theUniversity herd and grouped according to stage of lactation (early, mid, late,) They grazed on unimproved pasture,comprising mainly of Panicum maximum, in addition to receiving a concentrate supplement (16.5%CP) compounded frombrewers dry grain, wheat offals and palm kernel cake. Milk samples were obtained weekly from each animal and analyzedfor Total solids (TS), Butterfat (BF), Crude protein (CP), Solids-not-fat (SNF), Lactose, Total ash (TA) and Gross energy(GE).The result showed that early and late lactation stages had no effect on the milk constituents of the three species. Totalsolids and total ash, however, differed significantly (p