EFFECT OF DIETARY INCLUSION OF TURMERIC POWDER ON GROWTH AND RUMEN FERMENTATION OF SHEEP
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51791/njap.vi.7284Keywords:
turmeric, crop-residues, growth, rumen, sheepAbstract
Feeding sheep with herb plant additives have been recognised as an important strategy for manipulating rumen to improve growth performance. Dietary inclusion of turmeric powder has proven to be necessity for livestock farmers as it provides beneficial effects for sheep performance. Therefore, this study was carried out to determine the dietary inclusion effect of turmeric powder on growth and rumen fermentation by sheep. Sixteen West African dwarf female sheep of 6 – 7 months old were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments in a completely randomized design. The
treatment diets TD1, TD2, TD3 and TD4 contained 0, 1, 2 and 3% turmeric powder inclusion, respectively. At the end of the feeding trial, growth and rumen fermentation parameters were assessed. Results showed that sheep on TD1 were significantly (p<0.05) higher in feed conversion ratio (7.62), rumen ammonia nitrogen (19.23mg/dL), acetate (62.04mol/100mL) and butyrate (5.82mol/100mL). Feed intake (269.11g/day), daily weight gain (46.19g/day), total volatile fatty acids (99.67mol/L) and propionate (24.98mol/100mL) were significantly better in sheep on TD4. It can be concluded that inclusion of turmeric powder in diets improve growth performance and enhance rumen fermentation parameters of sheep.
