Chemical compositions, feed intakes and digestibilities of crop-residue based rations in non-lactating Red Sokoto goats in the sub-humid zone of Nigeria

Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate the chemical composition, intake and digestibility of crop-residue based rations by Red Sokoto goats maintained on natural pastures and Digitaria smutsii hay during the dry season of the year. Twenty eight non-lactating does were blocked for weight and assigned to 7 treatment groups comprising of 4 does each in a completely randomized design. Ration A the conventional concentrate ration, was used as the positive control, Rations B and C were the two crop residue based test rations, while Ration D the unsupplemented treatment, was used as the negative control. Each of the supplementation rations was fed at 1 and 2% of the does body weight. Ration A had the highest crude protein percentage of 17.19% while Rations B and C had 9.54 and 10.38% respectively. The naturally grazed pastures and Digitaria smutsii hay (Ration D) contained the least protein: 2.76 and 4.75% respectively. Ration D also had the highest percentages of acid detergent fibre, neutral detergent fibre and lignin (49.14, 74.73 and 9.49% in hay and 50.29, 8.27 and 11.5% in grazed pastures, respectively). Ration A on the other hand, had the least percentages of acid detergent fibre (20.00%), neutral detergent fibre (40.01%) and lignin (4.64%). The results indicated that the supplemented group of does had significantly higher (P<0.05) dry matter and crude protein intakes as well as nutrient digestibilities than the unsupplemented groups. A comparison of the unsupplemented animals with all the other treatment groups revealed that dry matter digestibility improved by a range of 4.1 to 27.9%, while crude protein digestibility improved by 17.1 to 42.2%, the highest value being in does on Ration A. It was concluded that goats were able to subsist and make appreciable gains in the long dry season on crop-based diets that compared favourably with the conventional concentrate rations. Of the two tested crop-residue based rations, Ration C is a better supplementation package than Ration B.