INFLUENCE OF COPPER GLYCINE SUPPLEMENTATION ON CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF MEAT FROM WEST AFRICAN DWARF SHEEP

Abstract

A 90 day trial was conducted to evaluate the influence of copper glycine (Cu-G) supplementation on chemical composition of meat of West African Dwarf (WAD) sheep. A total of sixteen (16) WAD Sheep were randomly assigned into four dietary treatments in a completely randomized design. Cu-G supplementation was incorporated at varying levels of 0, 5, 10 and 15 mg/kg to formulate four (4) dietary treatments. Following the feeding trial, three sheep per treatment were chosen at random and slaughtered. Meat was obtained from various sections of the animals to get a homogenized sample for
chemical composition of mutton. Cu-G supplementation had no significant (P>0.05) influence on the chemical composition of mutton from WAD sheep fed the experimental diet except the copper content of the meet sample. The copper content (3.00 – 5.00 x 10-3mg/kg) of the meat sample varied significantly across the dietary treatment in which mutton obtained from WAD sheep fed 10 mg/kg CuG supplementation recorded the highest copper content (5.00 x 10-3mg/kg). It can be concluded that Cu-G supplementation up to 10 mg/kg in the diet of WAD sheep enhanced tissue copper.