Effect of supplemental feeding combinations on the performance of west african dwarf (wad) goats

Abstract

 Eight young West African Dwarf (WAD) goats of relatively the same age (about 11 months), weighing 8 – 10 kg each were used in this study to determine the effect of supplemental feeding on WAD goats using grass mixtures of Panicum maximum, Pennisetum purpureum and Andropogon
gayanus at equal ratio. These were supplemented at 1:1 ratio with palm kernel cake (PKC), brewers grain (BG), wheat offal (WO) to produce diets A, B and C respectively, while Diet D served as control, containing only the three grass mixtures at equal ratio. The animals were fed ad libitum
during the experimental period of 10 weeks. The quantity of feed consumed each day was noted and weight observations made on the animals biweekly. The body weight observation on the WAD goats due to the effect of the diets showed that there were significant differences (p<0.05) in the treatments; treatment C showing the highest body weight gain of 1.9 kg; followed by B (1.1 kg). The body weight gain in treatment A was however low (0.75 kg), while the lowest body weight gain was observed in treatment D (0.675 kg). On feed consumption level, treatment A consumed the highest quantity of feed (49.06 kg), followed by C (46.27 kg), D (43.146 kg), while treatment B consumed least (41.58 kg). An assessment of the growth and nutrient utilization showed that diet C performed much better, followed by B, A. and lastly D.

Keywords: Goats, feed, grass, palm kernel cake, brewer’s grain, wheat offal