Lactation Performance of West African Dwarf Goats Fed Tiger Nut Meal as Replacement for Maize Offal

Abstract

The lactation performance of West African dwarf (WAD) goats fed tiger nut meal (TNM) as replacement for maize offal was evaluated using four (4) lactating does. The does were allotted to four (4) dietary treatments designated A, B, C and D, formulated to contain 0,30; 10,20; 20,10 and 30,0 percentages of TNM and maize offal respectively in a 4×4 Latin square design. The body weight (kg), feed intake (g/d), dry matter intake (DMI) g/d and DMI (% of body weight) of the WAD does were not affected significantly (p>0.05) by the diets. Milk yield (g/d) ranged from 68.52 (T1) – 132.55 (T2). Apart from solids-not fat (SNF, %) and fat-corrected milk (FCM, g), all the milk constituents studied were influenced statistically (p<0.05) by the diets. Diet D recorded the highest total solids (TS) while diet A had the highest milk protein. TS (%) ranged from 12.37–14.80 while milk protein (%) ranged from 4.33 – 4.81. Butter fat percentage varied (p<0.05) statistically across the treatments and ranges from 3.99–5.83. Ash and lactose contents of milk had ranges of 0.92% – 1.03% and 4.26% – 4.80% respectively. Solids-corrected milk (SCM, g) ranged from 98.90 – 121.34 while milk energy (MJ/kg) recorded a range of 3.50 –

4.33. From the results, increasing levels of TNM have the potentials of improving the lactation performances of WAD goats, hence; further research should be carried out in order to exploit the full potentials of TNM for the dairy industry.