Nutrient intake and growth response of pregnant West African Dwarf goats fed diets containing wheat offal replaced with Tiger nut

Abstract

A feeding trial was conducted to determine the performance of pregnant West African Dwarf (WAD) goats fed diets containing wheat offal replaced with Tiger nut at 0% (T1), 5% (T2), 10% (T3), 15% (T4) and 20% (T5). Twenty(20) WAD does of 8.54 – 8.90 kg were allotted to the five dietary treatments in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD), with four individually housed animals representing a treatment and each serving as a replicate. Animals were fed a concentrate diet at 3.5% of their body weight. Oestrus was synchronized in the does using 1 mL/10kg of Prostaglandin-Fα intramuscularly. Animals were mated with a proven buck. The does were weighed at mating and fortnightly before parturition. Parameters assessed were; nutrient intake, does weight at mating, before parturition and weight gained during pregnancy. The highest dry matter intake (DMI) (347.28 ± 2.37 g/day) was recorded for animals on diet B, weight gained was significantly higher (p<0.05) in does fed Tiger -based diets. The best feed conversion ratio (7.14 ± 0.39) was recorded in animals fed diet T5. Animals on Tiger nut-based diets gained more weight than those on diet T1 (control) due to the higher feed efficiency of these diets. It can therefore be concluded that 15% inclusion of Tiger nut can be used to replace wheat offal supplying both protein and energy in the diet of pregnant animals.