Performance of Yankasa Rams Fed Molasses-Treated Masakwa Stover Supplemented with Different Levels of Water Hyacinth
Abstract
The research was conducted to study the performance of Yankasa rams fed molasses-treated masakwa stover supplemented with different levels of water hyacinth. The experiments were conducted at the Federal College of Education, Yola Teaching and Research Farm. The objective of the study was to determine the nutrient digestibility of Yankasa rams fed molasses-treated masakwa stover supplemented with different levels of water hyacinth. The chemical composition of the masakwa plant was determined; dry matter (DM) ranged from 91.35% in week four (4) to 92.43% in week sixteen (16), crude protein (CP) from 8.75% in week four (4) to 10.60% in week sixteen (16), crude fiber (CF) from 9.35% to 20.36% from week four (4) to sixteen (16), ether extract (EE) from 0.94% to 2.29% from week four (4) to week sixteen (16), nitrogen-free extract (NFE) from 51.44% to 76.93% from week four (4) to sixteen (16), and ash from 4.03% to 15.31% from week four (4) to sixteen (16), respectively. The nutrient digestibility of Yankasa rams recorded dry matter digestibility (DMD) (51.46 to 60.72%), crude protein digestibility (CPD) (63.46 to 70.90%), crude fiber digestibility (CFD) (70.66 to 87.27%), ether extract digestibility (EED) (79.55 to 87.27%), nitrogen-free extract (66.79 to 71.01%), acid detergent fiber (ADF) (52.02 to 60.45%), and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) (70.12 to 79.12%). The highest values (79.55 to 87.27%) were recorded in crude fiber digestibility (CFD) and ether extract digestibility (EED). The study concluded that supplementing molasses-treated masakwa stover with water hyacinth significantly improved the digestibility of crude protein and energy in Yankasa rams. It is recommended that farmers in this region should consider incorporating water hyacinth into the diets of Yankasa rams to improve feed intake and utilization. Further research should be conducted to evaluate the long-term effects of water hyacinth supplementation on ram
productivity and health.
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Introduction
Livestock are fed with diverse feed resources all over the world (Abidi et al., 2009). In Nigeria, the major feed resources are crop residues and grass hay, which contain poorly digestible nutrients. To ensure better body condition of the animals, it is advisable that additional sources of carbohydrate and nitrogen be included in the diet of the animals, thereby improving the utilization of crop residues, which is mainly attained through the supply of energy and nitrogen to rumen microbes (Van Soest et al., 1991). Cereal stovers are relatively poor in nutritive value, which is concentrated in the harvested grain, but they are widely used for feeding ruminants, often when other feeds are inadequate or unavailable towards the end of the dry season. The total value of these crops therefore lies in their grain yield as well as the use of the stovers for livestock feed. Osafo et al. (1996) have demonstrated an important practical feeding strategy where chopped sorghum stover offered at a high rate of 800 g of raw forage per day for a ram of 35 kg with mineral lick is sufficient to maintain weight of rams aged 15 to 20 months.
Conclusion
The study concluded that supplementation of molasses-treated masakwa stover with increasing levels of water hyacinth significantly improves the digestibility of the diets for Yankasa rams, and no adverse effects were recorded. The highest digestibility values were generally observed in the treatment with 300 g water hyacinth supplementation (T4), indicating a positive effect on nutrient utilization.
References
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