Abstract
The study was conducted to evaluate the feeding value of acha hay and lablab hay based diets to Yankasa rams. Twenty Yankasa rams aged between 6 to 9 months with average live-weight of 10 to 12kg were subjected to five treatment diets each consisting of four replicates in complete randomized design (CRD). The five treatment diets are T1 (Sole acha hay), T2 (Acha hay +100g lablab hay), T3 (Acha hay +200g lablab hay), T4 (Acha hay +300g lablab hay) and T5 (Acha hay +400g lablab hay). Feed intake was significantly different (P 0.05), although it increases with supplementation level. Nutrients digestibility was not significantly different (P>0.05) but improves with level of supplement. The Acha hay and lablab hay being available during period of scarcity could improve the performances of the animals. Keywords: Acha hay, Lablab hay, Digestibility, Performance, Yankasa rams
Highlights
Small ruminants especially sheep and goats in the humid tropical regions of Africa roam around and eat natural pastures and kitchen wastes which contain low crude protein, high fibre and lignin (Tchinda et al, 1993 and Aregheore, 2000)
The low nutritional plane greatly hampers the productivity of these animals especially during the dry season when the crude protein content of these feedstuffs could be as low as 2% (Sarwatt et al, 2004)
The highest value of 30.82kg was obtained among rams fed Acha hay with 400g lablab hay, while the least intake of 20.54kg was recorded among rams fed acha hay only (T1)
Summary
Small ruminants especially sheep and goats in the humid tropical regions of Africa roam around and eat natural pastures and kitchen wastes which contain low crude protein, high fibre and lignin (Tchinda et al, 1993 and Aregheore, 2000). The low nutritional plane greatly hampers the productivity of these animals especially during the dry season when the crude protein content of these feedstuffs could be as low as 2% (Sarwatt et al, 2004). This situation has resulted to slow growth rate, loss of body weight, low birth weight and increased susceptibility to disease attack and death. A balance of energy and protein with essential nutrients is required to alleviate or improve the productivity of these small ruminants (Mendietta-Araica et al, 2011). The situation has led to decreased voluntary feed intake and digestibility (Adebola, 2002)
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