Browsing by Author "Leonidas, Ntakwendela"

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    The effect of substituting sunflower seed cake with acacia tortilis pods as a protein supplement on the performance of small East African goats
    (Sokoine University of Agriculture, 2003) Leonidas, Ntakwendela
    Two experiments (growth and digestibility) were conducted to investigate the effect of substituting sunflower seed cake (SSC) with Acacia tortilis pods (Atp) as a protein supplement on the performance of Small East African Goats. Brachiaria hay was given as a basal diet while Atp, SSC, hominy meal (HM) and mineral mixture were used as components of the supplementary rations. Four treatment rations based on ground Atp and SSC as protein supplements were formulated in such a way that ground Atp replaced 0, 33.3, 66.7 and 100 % of SSC in T|, T2, T3, and T4 respectively. In growth study, 24 female weaner goats with mean initial body weight of 9.71± 1.56 kgs were randomly allocated to the four treatment diets. Each weaner goat was given ad libitum hay and supplementary diet at a rate of 20g/kg body weight. Feed intake and growth performances were recorded for 90 days. In experiment 2, digestibility study to evaluate the effect of dietary treatments on nutrient digestibility and nitrogen utilization was conducted using 12 male goats. In growth and intake study, hay and total dry matter intake tended to increase with increasing levels of Acacia tortilis pods in the supplementary diet, goats offered supplementary diet T4 showed the highest intake. The CP intake did not differ significantly (P>0.05). The intake of ME was significantly (P<0.05) different only between Ti and T4. Significant (P<0.05) difference was observed in growth rate between the animals in Tj and those in T3 and T4. Similarly, the feed utilization efficiency for animals in Ti was significantly (P<0.05) lower than that of the animals in T3 and T4. The treatment diets had no significant (P>0.05) effect on the apparent digestibility of DM, OM, CP and NDF. There was no significant (P>0.05) difference between treatments on nitrogen utilisation, however nitrogen retention was slightly