Milk Yield and Composition of West African Dwarf (WAD) Does fed Bambara nut meal-based diets

Abstract

Twelve individually housed West African Dwarf (WAD) does in their mid-lactation were used to study the effect of Bambara nut meal on milk yield, composition and mineral content of goat milk. Four experimental diets designated A, B, C and D were formulated to contain 0, 10, 20 and 30% Bambara nut meal (BM), respectively. The 12 WAD does were divided into four (4) groups of three animals each. Each group was assigned to one of the four experimental diets in a completely randomized design (CRD). Each animal in a group represented a replicate. The experiment lasted 28 days. Data on voluntary feed intake and milk yield were collected daily. Results showed that daily milk yield was similar (P>0.05) among the treatment groups. The values were 188.53, 174.86, 298.66 and 272.49 g for diets A, B, C and D, respectively. Similarly values for SF, BF, CP, Lactose, TS, ASH and milk energy did not differ (P>0.05) among treatment groups. However, dietary inclusion of BM significantly (P<0.05) affected Calcium, Phosphorus and Sodium contents of WAD goat milk but Magnesium and Potassium were not significantly influenced (P>0.05) by  the diets. It was concluded that the dietary inclusion of Bambara nut meal at 20% level promoted higher milk content of Calcium, Phosphorus and Sodium.

Keywords: Bambara groundnut, goats, milk yield, composition and mineral content.