RUMEN FERMENTATION PARAMETERS AND MICROBIAL COUNTS OF WEST AFRICAN DWARF RAMS FED BASAL DIETS SUPPLEMENTED WITH MULTI-NUTRIENT BLOCKS.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51791/njap.vi.5899Keywords:
Basal diet, microbial counts, Multi-nutrient block, Ram, Rumen parameters, Peak yieldAbstract
A ninety days feeding trial was conducted to assess the effects of basal diet supplemented with Multi-nutrient blocks rumen fermentation parameters and microbial counts of West African Dwarf (WAD) rams. Fifteen WAD rams were used for the experiment, using Panicum maximum as the basal diet. The experiment had five (5) treatments with three animals per treatment. Rumen parameters such as acetic acid, total volatile fatty acid are significantly (P˂0.05) different across the treatments. The total bacteria counts, total fungi counts and total coliform count were also significantly (P˂0.05) different across the treatment respectively. The use of basal diet supplemented with multi-nutrient blocks at 30% inclusion level of ruminant feed improved the rumen fermentation parameters and microbial counts of West African Dwarf Sheep.