Performance of sheep and goats fed supplements during wet and dry seasons in Bauchi State, Nigeria

Abstract

Twenty four small ruminants (12 sheep and 12 goats), having average weights of 10.5 and 8.7 kg respectively were used in a feeding trial to assess the performance of animals in both the wet and dry season consisting of maize bran (MB) and cotton seed cake (CSC) supplements. The Sheep and goats subjected to supplemented diets had higher weight gains of 68.58 and 60.92 g/day than those not supplemented, 39.33 and 50.00 g/day respectively for sheep and goats. Seasonal effects on the parameters were not significant for both supplemented and not supplemented sheep and goats. The interaction effects of supplementation x species x season were not significant. The study showed that sheep requires supplementation in both seasons, where as goats may require supplementation only in the dry season.

Keywords: Sheep, goats, maize bran, cotton seed cake