NITROGEN BALANCE OF GROWING YANKASA RAMS FED MASAKWA AND SAMSORG-17 STOVER SORGHUM VARIETIES AND CONCENTRATE DIETS

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the nitrogen retention (balance) of growing Yankasa rams fed either Masakwa or SAMGORG-17, each supplemented with concentrate. Twelve growing Yankasa rams were used for the study. They were arranged in a completely randomized design, and each ram served as a replicate. Four (4) dietary treatments were formulated to supply the nutrients requirement of the growing Yankasa rams. Diets 1, 2, 3 and 4 contained Masakwa crushe + concentrate, SAMSORG-17 crushed + concentrate, Masakwa chopped + concentrate y and SAMSORG-17 chopped + concentrate respectively. Molasses was added each to the stover daily at 5%. The result showed that, growing Yankasa rams fed Masakwa crushed had significantly (P<0.05) higher values for Nitrogen intake compared to those fed Masakwa chopped and SAMGORG-17 chopped; however, was statistically the same (P>0.05) as those that were fed SAMSORG-17 crushed. The result also showed that growing Yankasa rams fed Masakwa crushed had significantly (P<0.05) higher values for Nitrogen retained compared to all other treatment groups. Further, the result for Nitrogen absorbed as % intake indicated that, group fed Masakwa crushed had significantly higher (P<0.05) values compared to those fed Masakwa chopped, but statistically (P>0.05) similar to groups fed SAMSORG-17 crushed and SAMSORG-17 chopped. However, the result did not show (P>0.05) any difference for all the groups in terms of faecal nitrogen, urinary nitrogen and total nitrogen outgo. It was therefore concluded that Masakwa crushed improved utilization in growing Yankasa rams.