COEFFICIENT OF PREFERENCE OF Panicum maximum AND CASSAVA LEAVES ENSILED WITH DIFFERENT ADDITIVES BY WEST AFRICAN DWARF GOATS

Abstract

This study was carried out to investigate silage quality, chemical composition and coefficient of preference (CoP) of Panicum maximum and cassava leaves ensiled using four different additives such as cracked maize, pineapple, cassava peel, and sugarcane chaff at different ratio. Six treatments were formulated viz; A (50% Panicum maximum+30% cassava leaves +20% cracked maize), B (50% Panicum maximum+30% cassava leaves +20% pineapple peel), C (50% Panicum maximum+30% cassava leaves +20% cassava peel), D (50% Panicum maximum +30% cassava leaves +20% sugar cane), E (100% Panicum maximum
and F (100% cassava leaves). Fermentation was done for 28 days. Silage quality and chemical composition was determined. All the silages were fed to 13 WAD goats in a cafeteria method to determine the coefficient of preference (CoP). Data obtained were analyzed using ANOVA. Silages had pleasant and sweet odour, acceptable olive green colour, dry and moist texture, cool temperature at opening and pH range of 4.22 to 4.76. The crude protein (CP) ranged from 9.86% to 23.13%), Ash ranged from 8.81% to 11.40%), Ether extract (EE) ranged from 2.53% to 3.71%, Neutral detergent fiber (NDF) ranged between 57.43 and
69.19%, Acid detergent fibre (ADF) ranged between 38.13 and 53.15% while Acid detergent lignin (ADL) ranged between 13.46 and 19.56%. Tanin ranged between 0.017 and 0.37%, Saponin ranged from 0.217 and 0.289%. Feed intakes ranged from 0.55kg to 1.9kg. The highest COP was observed in treatment A (1.76) while the lowest was in treatment C (0.55).It was therefore concluded that treatment A was the most preferred among the diets.