Effects of Spondias mombin l. On milk composition of lactating West African Dwarf (WAD) ewes

Abstract

A study was conducted to investigate the effects of Spondias mombin on milk composition using milk from twelve lactating West African dwarf (WAD) ewes. The lactating ewes were assigned to two treatment groups of six ewes per group, designated T1 and T2 representing control and trial group, respectively The ewes in T2, the trial group were fed Spondias mombin L. post partum while those in T1 the control were not fed Spondias mombin. Colostrum samples were collected from each ewe the first four days following parturition while normal milk was sampled for analysis after two weeks of lambing through 12 weeks of lactation. The constituents studied were lactose, milk protein, butterfat, ash, total solids and solid non-fat. Results showed that the colostrums of ewes fed S. mombin had significantly higher (P<0.05) total solids, and solids not fat contents of 18.34 and 11.31% respectively, than those of the control ewes which were 17.32 and 10.35%, respectively. The other constituents of colostrums of the different groups were not significantly different (P>0.05). At week 2 of lactation, lactose (3.98%) and ash (0.98%) concentrations of normal milk of treated ewes were significantly higher (P<0.05) than those of the control ewes for lactose (3.74%) and ash (0.65%). Also by the 12^th week of lactation, ash contents of the two treatments were significantly different (P<0.05) with T2 having higher value. There were no significant differences (P>0.05) in the normal milk compositions of both groups in weeks 4, 6, 8 and 10. These results suggest that feeding S. mombin to lactating ewes could be useful in improving on the milk composition of WAD ewes and has no adverse effects on their general health and performance.