Abstract
The effect of replacement of conventional Concentrate (CC) supplement with Palm Kernel Cake (PKC) on the milk composition and yield of West African Dwarf (WAD) dams fed Pennisetum purpureum silage (grass) basal ration was investigated. Twenty five lactating WAD dams of average weight of 13kg ± 0.2 were randomly assigned into five dietary treatments in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) layout. Each treatment group consists of five replicates of lactating dam. Dams were individually housed and offered silage freely with 400g of one of the five supplement treatments (T) per day ( viz: C/PKC: T1 – T5); T1: 100/0; T2: 75/25; T3: 50/50; T4: 25/75 and T5: 0/100). The replacement of CC by PKC had significant (p<0.05) effect on the average milk yield, percentage (%) fat, protein, specific gravity, ash and fat corrected milk (FCM) but showed no significant (p>0.05) effect on the total solid (TS%) of the milk of the treatments. Based on this result it can be concluded that the proportionate combinations of CC and PKC as supplement to Pennisetum purpureum (grass) silage rations of WAD goats during lactation will improve the milk yield and the composition without adverse effect. However, at 50% replacement of CC by PKC (50/50) the milk yield is enhanced while the fat and protein components were improved at 100% replacement of CC by PKC.
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