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A persistent issue with ruminant production during the dry season in the tropics is scarcity of forages. Producers are faced with the search for alternative feed supplements to address this issue without compromising productivity. Acceptability of Piliostigma thonningii as dry season feed supplement to West African dwarf (WAD) goat was investigated in this study. The WAD goats (n=15) were divided into three treatments of five goats each in a completely randomized design. The animals were fed with Panicum maximum without supplementation at 100% (T1), 90% Panicum maximum+10% Piliostigma thonningii (T2) and 80% Panicum  maximum+20% Piliostigma thonningii (T3). Fresh water was also made available throughout the trial that lasted six weeks. Chemical analysis of the forages was observed while feed intake, weight gain and nutrient digestibility were monitored. Results showed that Piliostigma thonningii had a higher (15.25%) crude protein and lower (57.38%) neutral detergent fibre contents than the grass. Both had comparable energy values. Piliostigma thonningii had relatively high mineral contents while the anti-nutrient contents of phytate and oxalate were relatively low. Although the crude protein intake increased with increasing levels of supplementation, the total dry matter intake was not favoured beyond 10% level of Piliostigma thonningii level. It can be concluded that there was no advantage in feeding West African dwarf goat Piliostigma thonningii beyond 10% level.

No abstract

Effects of dietary supplementation of Ascorbic Acid (AA) on performance and physiological response of growing pullets were investigated in a 7-week trial. In a completely randomized design, Bovan Brown pullets (n=96) aged 12 weeks weighing 0.81±0.04 kg were randomly allotted to three treatments of four replicate and each replicate comprised eight birds. The pullets were initially fed basal diet for three weeks followed by dietary supplementation with AA at 0 (T1), 300 (T2) and 600 mg/kg (T3). Feed and water were provided to the pullets ad libitum. Performance and physiological parametersweremonitored.Data were subjected to ANOVA and polynomial regression and means separated at α0.05. Ambient temperature, relative humidity and temperature humidity index were 29.0±1.5 °C, 71.9±0.3 % and 26.9±1.3, respectively. Feed intake (kg) (0.89, 0.87, 0.88) and livability (93.8, 96.9, 96.9%) of pullets on T1, T2 and T3, respectively were not significantly affected (P>0.05) by supplemental AA. Weight gain (kg) of pullets on T1 (0.36) and T3 (0.42) were similar (P>0.05) but were significantly lower (P<0.05) than T2 (0.47). Feed conversion ratio of pullets on T2 (1.89) and T3 (2.09) were significantly lower (P<0.05) than T1 (2.48). Panting rate (Breath/min) of pullets on T1 (231.8) and T2 (225.0) were similar (P>0.05) but significantly higher (P<0.05) than in T3 (207.8). Rectal temperature of pullets on T3 (41.9) was lower than T1 (41.5). In conclusion, dietary supplementation of AA improved performance and physiological response of growing pullets in this study.

Egg producers primarily use oyster shell or limestone as supplemental sources of dietary calcium. This study was conducted to investigate the efficiencies of limestone (CaCo3 ) and oyster shell as calcium sources in the diets of laying hens. Ninety, 58 weeks old Golden Comet Hubbard laying birds were randomly allotted to three treatments of three replicates. Each replicate had 10 birds per replicate. Three different rations were formulated for the study. To include Diet 1 as the control, a diet with bone meal (46%) and oyster shell (54%). Diet 2 had oyster shell and bone meal supplying 82% and 18% of the dietary calcium while Diet 3 had 82% and 18% of the dietary calcium supplied by limestone and bone meal respectively. Feed and water were provided ad-libitum. The parameters measured include: Feed intake (g/d); Hen day production (%); Efficiency of feed utilization (kg); Egg and shell weight (g); Bone weight (g); Ash content of bone (%) and Calcium content of bone (%). The study lasted eight weeks. Results revealed that birds on Diet1 had the highest value for feed intake (0.11 g/d) that differed significantly (P<0.05) from the value (0.10 g/d) obtained for Diet 2 and 3 Hen day production for birds on Diet 2 (57.04) and Diet 3 (56.30) were similar, but differed significantly (P<0.05) from birds on Diet 1 (65.44). Efficiency of feed utilization (EFU kg) was not significantly affected by the dietary treatments as birds on Diet1 had the lowest EFU value (1.80) while birds on Diet 2 had the highest EFU value (2.05). A higher percent of eggs within 50-59g were laid by birds on Diet 3, while eggs of 60g and above were laid by birds on Diet 1 (62 g), significant (p<0.05) variations occurred among treatment means for these egg grade. Egg shell percent was not significant, same trend was observed for bone weight. The effect of dietary treatment on the ash content of bones were similar for birds on Diet 2 and 3, except for bone humerus, however, significant (p<0.05) variation occurred between birds on diets 1 and other two Diets. Calcium contents of the different bones were differed significantly (p<0.05) with birds on diet 3 recording the highest values for all bone investigated. It can be concluded from this study that Limestone can replace oyster shell as a source of calcium in the diet of laying hens without deleterious effect.