This on-farm study was conducted in Zamfara reserve of north western Nigeria between July, 2002 and June, 2003 to assess feed intake and liveweight of 12 indigenous Red Sokoto castrated bucks, separated into two group...This on-farm study was conducted in Zamfara reserve of north western Nigeria between July, 2002 and June, 2003 to assess feed intake and liveweight of 12 indigenous Red Sokoto castrated bucks, separated into two groups of six, supplemented and nonsupplemented respectively. The nonsupplemented group grazed natural pasture and crop stubble of crop fields, whereas the supplemented group grazed natural pasture, crop stubbles and received concentrate supplementation. Concentrate supplement （wheat offal） was fed at 1% of the metabolic weight of the animals which corresponds to the mean of the farmers offer. The total faecal collection method and grab samples of feed were used to estimate total intake of dry matter （DM）, organic matter （OM）, crude protein （CP） and metabolizable energy （ME）. Liveweight of the animal was recorded at five weekly intervals. Results of the study indicated that nutrients intake of supplemented animals were generally higher than those of the nonsupplemented group, but not significantly different （P 〉 0.05）. However, it was observed that supplementation significantly （P 〈 0.05） affected the liveweight of the supplemented bucks during early dry season in December, During this period feed became more available to the grazing animals from crop residues. It was therefore concluded that supplementation with wheat offal at 1% metabolic weight may not be enough to counteract weight loss of grazing goats during the other periods of dry season in this environment.展开更多
文摘This on-farm study was conducted in Zamfara reserve of north western Nigeria between July, 2002 and June, 2003 to assess feed intake and liveweight of 12 indigenous Red Sokoto castrated bucks, separated into two groups of six, supplemented and nonsupplemented respectively. The nonsupplemented group grazed natural pasture and crop stubble of crop fields, whereas the supplemented group grazed natural pasture, crop stubbles and received concentrate supplementation. Concentrate supplement （wheat offal） was fed at 1% of the metabolic weight of the animals which corresponds to the mean of the farmers offer. The total faecal collection method and grab samples of feed were used to estimate total intake of dry matter （DM）, organic matter （OM）, crude protein （CP） and metabolizable energy （ME）. Liveweight of the animal was recorded at five weekly intervals. Results of the study indicated that nutrients intake of supplemented animals were generally higher than those of the nonsupplemented group, but not significantly different （P 〉 0.05）. However, it was observed that supplementation significantly （P 〈 0.05） affected the liveweight of the supplemented bucks during early dry season in December, During this period feed became more available to the grazing animals from crop residues. It was therefore concluded that supplementation with wheat offal at 1% metabolic weight may not be enough to counteract weight loss of grazing goats during the other periods of dry season in this environment.
