Effects of dietary replacement of cotton seed cake with dried poultry litter on the performance of growing Yankasa rams

Abstract

Five concentrate supplements were formulated in which dried poultry litter (DPL) was included at 0, 5, 10, 15 and 20% dry weight in the rations which contained mainly maize bran, to replace 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% of cotton seed cake (CSC). The animals were fed on basal poor quality groundnut haulms ad lib in addition to 300 g per head per day of one of the supplements. The supplements were fed to twenty Yankasa rams, averaging 16.5 kg body weight, for forty-nine days in order to study the effects of the replacement on nutrients intake and digestibility, feed efficiency (FE), daily weight gain (DWG) and feed cost per kilogram gain of the animals fed basal poor quality groundnut haulms. The results showed that dry matter intake (DMI) was significantly (p<0.01) affected by the treatments. Supplement 2 (5% DPL) gave the highest DMI (502.67 g/day) and supplement 4 (15% DPL) the least (354.20 g/day). Intake of the basal hay, which was higher than the concentrates intake in all the treatments, was significantly (p<0.05) encouraged by the increasing levels of DPL. The crude protein intake of the animals decreased significantly (p<0.05) with increasing levels of DPL across the treatments. The entire nutrient digestibility was significantly (p<0.01) different across the treatments, with dry matter and crude fiber digestibility decreasing with increasing levels of DPL. Higher crude protein digestibility (CPD) was recorded for all the treatments (59.62-72.47%). Animals on supplement 3 (10% DPL) recorded the highest crude protein digestibility. All the animals gained weight, which indicated that, the intake of energy and protein were well above maintenance requirements. Supplement 3 (10% DPL/10% CSC) with moderate crude protein (12.88%) and metabolizable energy (ME) (10.50 MJ/Kg) provoked the highest average daily gain (62.71g/day), while supplement 5 (20% DPL/0% CSC) with a comparatively lower CP (12.04%) and a higher ME (11.25 MJ/Kg) promoted the least growth rate of 34.79 g/day. Animals on the 10% DPL supplement utilized their feed more efficiently and incurred the least cost of feed per kg gain ( N551.79) as well. It could be concluded that 100% replacement of CSC with DPL in the feed supplements had no adverse effects on the performance of the animals. However, since the inclusion of DPL at up to 10% in the sheep rations was as good as the control in respect of DMI and DWG and a better feed efficiency and reduced feed cost per Kg gain were ensured, 10% DPL/10% CSC could be recommended for growing Yankasa sheep fed poor quality groundnut haulms.

Animal Production Research Advances Vol. 2(1) 2006: 12-16