Abstract
The study was conducted to estimate the performance of rams on a dry season ration formulated from agro-industrial by-products and compared with the animals on free range for a period of 10 weeks. Eight rams were fed the test diet while 8 rams were left on free range with supplemented wheat offal. Feed intake, weight gain, chestgirth, back-bone length and height at withers were observed. Serum glucose, cholesterol and total protein were determined before and at the end of the experiment. Significant (P<0.05) positive relationships were observed between feed intake and chestgirth (r=0.97213), feed intake and backbone length (r=0.947) and feed intake and height at withers (r=0.79049) for animals fed experimental diet. Significant increases (p<0.01) were observed in the levels of the serological parameters. The mean values (mg/dl) increased from 12.08 + 0.43 to 20.88 + 0.64 for serum glucose; 7.78 + 0.30 to 152.63 + 0.68 for serum cholesterol and 7.22 + 0.39 to 52.75 + 0.25 for serum total protein for rams on test diet. The mean value (mg/dl) for serum glucose, cholesterol and total protein also increased from 12.30 + 0.80 to 22.75 + 0.75, 7.97 + 0.12 to 154.50 + 1.89 and 6.15 + 0.45 to 53.75 + 0.85, respectively, for rams on free range. The rams on the test diet significantly (P<0.05) grew faster than those on free range (48.6 vs 13.4gld). There were also significant (P<0.05) dietary effects on chestgirth gain (0.71 vs 0.03 cm/d), back-bone length gain (0.045 vs 0.020cm/d) and height at withers gain (0.041 vs 0.029 cm/d) in rams fed experimental diet and those on free range, respectively.The results of the study suggest that when poultry droppings and sawdust ash are contained in forage-based diet for small ruminants, significantly (P<0.05) high growth rate, increases in chestgirth, backbone length and height at withers could be obtained than by the animals on dry season free range although with supplement. Keywords: Performance, rams, dry season feed, agro-industrial, by-products.
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