Yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) treated groundnut haulms and dry cassava peels-based diets improved weight gain and economics of goat kids

Abstract

The study investigated the feed intake and economics of growing Red Sokoto goat kids fed Saccharomyces cerevisiae-treated biodegraded groundnut haulms (SCGH) and dried Cassava peels (DCP). The diets consisted of (T1; 0% SCGH: DCP) and dried cassava peels in combination with Saccharomyces cerevisiae-treated biodegraded groundnut haulm at different proportions of 275:695 (T2), 375:595 (T3), and 475:495 (T4) g/kg dry matter (DM), respectively. Twelve healthy Red Sokoto goat kids (RSGKs) weighing 9.5 ± 0.40 kg BW and aged 7 to 8 months were randomly allocated to four dietary treatments with three replicates per treatment in a completely randomized design. Animals were housed individually in a well-ventilated open-sided small ruminant pen (1.2 m × 0.9 m) and fed (5% of their BW) which is 900 g of the total mixed ration. The experiment lasted for 90 days. There was no significant (P>0.05) difference between the average daily gain of T1: control (58.20 g/d) and goat kids fed T4 (58.89 g/d). However, feed conversion ratio and feed cost saving (N630.80) increased with the inclusion of dried cassava peels and treated-groundnut haulms in the diets. It was concluded that growing goats can be fed yeast treated groundnut haulms-cassava peel-based diet without affecting feed intake and at the same time minimizing cost of feeding.