Acceptability and digestibility of ensiled mixtures of corncobs, cassava peels and brewers' grain by West African Dwarf goats

Abstract

A total of twelve West African Dwarf goats of an average liveweight of 9.5 ± 0.5 kg in a completely randomized design were allocated to three dietary treatments to determine the intake, acceptability and digestibility of ensiled mixtures of corncobs (CC), cassava peels (CSP) and brewers' grain (WBG). The ensiled dietary treatments were: CC/CSP, CC/WBG and CC/CSP/WB. The goats were offered the diets in a cafeteria system for the evaluation of their preferences. The Results show that the combination of corncobs with brewers' grain recorded the highest crude protein (22.06%) and least crude fibre (18.11%) values. Although, the Coefficient of Preference (CoP) was not up to unity, the highest acceptability value (0.93) was obtained for CC/CSP/WB. Significant differences were observed in dry matter intake among the treatments with goat fed diet CC/WBG having the highest value (247.49g/hd/d). Dry matter and neutral detergent fibre digestibilities were significantly (p<0.05) different among the treatments. However, no significant difference (p>0.05) was observed in crude protein digestibility values. The results of this study showed that ensiling CC with CSP or WBG or with the combination of CSP and WBG can enhance the utilization of corncobs as feed for goat.