The performance of West African dwarf goat on dietary magnesium sulphate supplements

Abstract

A 56-day feeding trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of dietary magnesium sulphate on the performance of West African Dwarf (WAD) goat using 12 does weighing 7 - 10kg. There were four dietary levels of MgSO₄ (Dl), 0.5(D2), 1.0 (D3) and 1.5% (D4). Dry matter intake, growth and Mg retention were used as the criteria for judgment. Result showed that addition of magnesium sulphate significantly (P<0.05) increased mean daily gain from 34.00 -46.00g. The dry matter intake declined (P<0.05) with increased level of dietary magnesium sulphate (3.21-2.34Kg/W^07Skg) Goat fed diet D4 depicted an optimum feed conversion ratio (10.50) while the least was observed for animals fed Dl (14.50). The result further showed that the magnesium requirement for body maintenance was 0.003g/kgBW/day while the requirement for maximum growth was 1.5% of the diet.

Key words: Magnesium sulphate, goats, performance, maintenance requirement