The effect of urea treated cassava peels as supplement to West African Dwarf (WAD) goats grazing natural pasture

Abstract

The performance of West African Dwarf (WAD) goats grazing natural pasture and supplemented with different levels of urea-treated cassava peels (UTCP) was evaluated. The urea treatments were 0% UTCP, 4% UTCP (40g urea/kg), 6% UTCP (60g urea/kg) and 8% UTCP (80g urea/kg).Twenty WAD bucks aged between 6 and 9 months and weighing on the average 7.7±1.2kg were randomly allocated to five treatment diets consisting of either natural herbage alone (NH); NH + 0% UTCP (0% UTCP,) NH + 4% UTCP (4% UTCP), NH + 6% UTCP (6% UTCP) and NH + 8% UTCP (8% UTCP) respectively in a completely randomized design experiment lasting 84 days to evaluate the potentials of UTCP as a supplement to natural pasture. Total daily feed intake, daily weight gain and weight gain per gramme nitrogen intake varied significantly (P<0.05) among treatments,. Similarly, significant (P<0.05) effect of urea treatment was observed on thoracic girth change, daily water consumed and feed conversation ratio (FCR). Animals on 4% UTCP recorded superior performance in daily weight gain, weight gain per gramme nitrogen intake, FCR and thoracic girth change. This indicated that ammoniation at 4% improved weight gain significantly (P<0.05) compared to other treatment levels. No significant (P>0.05) increase in blood urea accompanied ammoniation and blood urea concentration did not exceed the toxic level of 10mg per litre.

Keywords: effect, urea treated cassava peels, goats

Nigerian Veterinary Journal Vol. 26(1) 2005: 1-9