Effects of differently treated Theobroma Cacao pod husk silage and cassava peel meals on nutrient utilization and weight gain of West African dwarf goats

Abstract

The waste from agricultural produce is increasingly being viewed as a valuable source of alternative feed ingredients for livestock in spite of its usual fibrous nature, poor nutrients quality and low digestibility. This necessitated the need to upgrade the nutrient qualities. Thus, this study was conducted to assess the nutrient utilization and growth performance of West African Dwarf (WAD) goats fed ensilage of Theobroma cacao pod husk (TCPH) treated with non-protein nitrogen sources. Four diets were formulated such that; diet A, B, C and D respectively contained 10 % inclusion of raw TCPH, lye, poultry litter and urea-treated ensiled TCPH replaced with cassava peel meal in a concentrate diets; and fed to twenty-four WAD goats in a completely randomized design for sixtythree days. From the result; nutrient composition, nutrient intake, digestibility, nitrogen balance, weight gain and feed gain ratio were significantly (p<0.05) influenced by the dietary treatment. The highest crude protein (12.57 %), nitrogen balance (6.09 g/day) and least crude fibre (10.43 %), theobromine (1.36 %), and feed gain ratio (11.39) were obtained in goats fed diet D (10 % inclusion of urea-treated cocoa pod husk meal (CPHM) in the diet). Hence, ensiled urea-treated cocoa pod husk meal could enhance growth performance of goats without any adverse effect.

Keywords: Urea, Cocoa pod husk, Cassava peel meal, Digestibility, Performance, West African Dwarf goat