Effects of varying inclusion levels of inoculants-treated soybean residues on nutrient intake and digestibility of uda rams

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding varying inclusion levels of inoculants-treated soybean residues (ITSR) on nutrient intake and digestibility of Uda sheep. A twelve weeks (12) feeding trial was conducted using thirty-five (35) Uda rams which were allotted to diets as T₁, T₂, T₃, T₄, T₅, T₆ and T₇ having 0%, 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and 60% inclusion levels of ITSR respectively, in a completely randomized design. The findings of the study revealed that the values obtained for nutrient intake and digestibility were significantly (P<0.05) influenced by treatment. The nutrient intake and digestibility assessed increased from T₂ (10% ITSR inclusion level) to T₄ (30% ITSR inclusion level), although, there was a decline in nutrient intake and digestibility as the inclusion level of ITSR increased from 40%, the results obtained showed that the parameters assessed compared favorably with the control. It was concluded that for optimum growth performance or weight gain, inclusion of ITSR in the diet of Uda rams should not exceed 30%. It is recommended that ITSR could be used as feed supplement in the diets of sheep as it has the potential of meeting the protein requirements of sheep.

Key words: Soybean residue, Inoculants-treated, Uda sheep, Nutrient Intake, Digestibility