THE ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF FEEDING RUMEN WASTE AND IN THE DIETS OF WEST AFRICAN DWARF GOATS
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51791/njap.vi.7351Keywords:
Feed Cost, Feed Intake, Rumen Waste, Weight Gain, DigestibilityAbstract
The cost of conventional feeds has over the years posed a challenged to ruminant production. There is a need for affordable/cheap nonconventional feed materials. This study was undertaken to determine the economic benefit of feeding Rumen Waste and in the diets of West African dwarf goats. Twenty five West African Dwarf goats were fed five treatment diets containing Cattle Rumen waste (CRW) and Goat Rumen waste (GRW) at 0, 20 and 40% inclusion levels, respectively, using a completely randomized design. Daily feed intake and weekly weight gain were measured. Metabolism cages were used for total collection of faeces and urine. There was no significance difference (P>0.05) in Dry
Matter Intake, Organic Matter Intake, weight gain, Dry Matter and Organic Matter digestibility for all the treatments, while diet 5 (40% GRC) had the least Dry Matter and Organic Matter digestibility. Cost of feed decreased from N268.88 for 0% RW to N188.87 and N151.63 for 20% CRW and 40% GRW respectively. Also, feed cost/kg live weight gain decline from N344 at 0% RW to N160.85 for 40% CRW. Cattle and goat rumen wastes will therefore be of immense economic benefit in reducing cost of production when used in the diets of goats.
