Performance and nutrient digestibility of West African Dwarf rams fed Panicum maximum and Tridax procumbens supplemented with Cajanus cajan leaves

I. A Adebisi; A. B. Ajibike; T. O Muraina; H. O Amusa; O. O Okunlola; O. Oladepo; T. B. Mustapha

doi:10.51791/njap.v43i2.958

Authors

I. A Adebisi Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology, P. M. B 10, Igboora, Oyo State, Nigeria
A. B. Ajibike Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology, P. M. B 10, Igboora, Oyo State, Nigeria
T. O Muraina Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology, P. M. B 10, Igboora, Oyo State, Nigeria
H. O Amusa Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology, P. M. B 10, Igboora, Oyo State, Nigeria
O. O Okunlola Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology, P. M. B 10, Igboora, Oyo State, Nigeria
O. Oladepo Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology, P. M. B 10, Igboora, Oyo State, Nigeria
T. B. Mustapha Oyo State College of Agriculture and Technology, P. M. B 10, Igboora, Oyo State, Nigeria

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51791/njap.v43i2.958

Keywords:

WAD rams, legume, tropical grass, performance, nutrient digestibility

Abstract

An experiment was carried out to investigate the performance and nutrient digestibility of West African dwarf growing rams fed mixture of Panicum maximum and Tridax procumbens supplemented with Cajanus cajan leaves for 56 days feeding trial. A total of twelve WAD rams were randomly allocated to three treatments with four animals per treatment while two animals served as replicate. The experimental diet was fed at 3% body weight of individual animals while Cajanus cajan leaves were supplemented at varied inclusion levels. The results revealed that animals fed T₁ recorded the least weight gain (36.96g/day) while the highest weight gain (56.42g/day) was recorded for T₃. The daily weight gain of animals was significantly different across all treatments (P<0.05). The highest DMI (18.30kg) was recorded on the T₁, and the least value of DMI (17.40kg) was recorded in T₃. The highest feed efficiency ratio (0.18) and the lowest value (0.11) were observed in animals fed T₁ and T₃ diet respectively. There were significant differences (P<0.05) in the nutrient digestibility parameters of the experimental animals. The results showed that T₁ (100% sole Cajanus cajan leaves) promoted the best dry matter (DM) digestibility (89.56%) which was enough to meet the production and maintenance requirement of small ruminants while the lowest value (88.67%) of DMD was recorded in T₂ . The highest crude protein (CP) digestibility (13.20%) was observed in T₃ diet. The highest value for crude fibre digestibility (38.95%) and the lowest value (35.35%) were observed in animals fed T₂ and T₁ diet respectively. In conclusion, supplementation of Cajanus cajan leaves with mixture of Tridax procumbens and Panicum maximum as basal diet for feeding sheep enhanced nutrient intake, growth performance and improved nutrient digestibility without health challenges to the animals.