Abstract
This study evaluated the use of maize, groundnut and soybean stover in cattle feeding. The study assessed the value of upgrading the quality of crop residues. The study involved evaluation of palatability of maize stover improved using urea (U), chopped groundnut stover (cGS), chopped soybean stover (cSS), mineralized groundnut stover solution (mGS) and mineralized soybean stover solution (mSS). In the feeding trial, twelve (12) crossbred dairy cows in their second parity were used as experimental units. A 22 factorial experiment within a Completely Randomised Design (CRD) was used. Maize stover was chopped before being mixed with urea, chopped legume stover and mineralized legume stover solutions. The effect of supplementation using maize stover upgraded with U, cGS, cSS, mGS and mSS was studied for supplement intake levels. Urea Ensilage Treatment (UET) was used as the novel therapy in the study. Both legume type and processing method had influence on supplement intake of maize stover. Groundnut stover had significantly (p˂0.05) higher (0.99kg/day, se=0.04) effect on supplement intake of maize stover than soybean stover(0.83kg/day, se=0.04). The use of mineralized legume stover solution proved significant (p˂0.05) to the use of chopped legume stover in improving the intake of maize stover. Results have indicated that intake was highest (1.01kg/day, s.e=0.04) for mineralised groundnut stover solution and lowest (0.67kg/day, s.e=0.04) for Urea Ensiling Treatment.
Highlights
Seasonal and climatic changes can have significant effects on the quality and availability of livestock feed which affect animal performance
Results of the study have shown that while legume stover mineralization method had higher potential than chopping method in groundnut stover, the observation was opposite for soybean
It was observed during the study that the intake of low quality maize stover can be improved by use of legume stover
Summary
Seasonal and climatic changes can have significant effects on the quality and availability of livestock feed which affect animal performance. Smith (2002) [1] reported that dry season nutritional stress is a major constraint to ruminant livestock production in semi-arid areas. After the rainy season has ended, quantity and quality of grazing fall rapidly, leaving cereal crop residues as the major feed resource. These residues are low in N and high in crude fibre, characteristics which restrict intake, digestibility and livestock performance. During the dry season multi-purpose legume plants or trees (popularly known as MPTs) have the highest potential for livestock feeding especially dairy cattle and goats because they provide forage throughout the year and are a good.
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