Changes in the performance and blood indices of Red Sokoto bucks fed diets containing soybean curd residue

Abstract

The investigation was carried out to examine the outcome of soybean curd residue (SCR) supplementation in the diets of Red Sokoto bucks on growth performance and some blood parameters. Five (5) mixed ration was formulated to contain 14% crude protein, four (4) of which was SCR based at inclusion levels of 0% (control), 5%, 7.5%, 10% and 12.5% denoted as T₁ , T₂ , T₃ , T₄ and T₅ respectively. Twenty (20) Red Sokoto bucks were used for the experiment for a period of twelve (12) weeks. They were randomly assigned to the five dietary groups of 4 bucks each in a completely randomize design. Laboratory analyses were carried out on the SCR and the experimental diets. Parameters measured were on growth performance and some blood parameters. The results obtained showed that SCR was high in DM (93.53%), energy (3435.15 kcal/kg), protein (30.66%) and NFE (49.12%) values. The results revealed significant differences (P<0.05) among all treatments. The highest values for daily weight gain was observed in T₅ (122.86 g/day); daily feed intake and feed conversion ratio was observed in T₃ (481.29 g/day and 4.66 respectively). High significant (P<0.05) values for packed cell volume and haemoglobin were observed in T₅ (26% and 8.6 g/dl) compared to the control. Meanwhile, white blood cell was highest significantly (P<0.05) in T₃ (8.50 ×10⁹ /L). Most of the blood parameters observed in this study were within standard normal range for goat. This study showed that SCR did not pose any health risk to the bucks. It was concluded that supplementing soybean curd residue in the diets of goats up to 12.5% can produce a better performance.