Alphonsus, C., &pa, G.N., Oni, O.O., Rekwot, P.I., Barje, P.P. and Yashim, S.M. 2010

Thirty (30) growing rabbits of mixed breeds and sexes with an average initial weight of 526.92±0.25g  ere used for this study to determine the effect of level of inclusion of Ziziphus leaf meal (ZLM) in concentrate diet on the performance of growing rabbits. The experiment was in a completely randomized design involving five treatments, which represented five diets with 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40% levels of ZLM inclusion. Significant differences (p<0.05) were observed in weight gains, feed intake and feed:gain ratios. Treatment 2 had the highest weight gain (though not significantly different (p>0.05) from treatment 1 and the best feed /gain values.The cost benefit analysis shows a 40.51 % reduction in the cost of feed, following a 10 % inclusion of ZLM in the diet (T2) over the control (T1), while 46.35 and 47.94 % reduction were observed following 20 and 30 % ZLM inclusion (T3 and T4) respectively. In term of apparent profit made, T1 recorded the highest profit (N 35.29) over all other treatments, which was followed by T2 (N30.49), T3 (N15.11) and T4 recorded the least (N 12.99). Inclusion of RHSM in the diet of rabbits resulted in reduction in the cost of feed and feed cost efficiency. From the results obtained it was concluded that  dried ZLM could be incorporated up to 30% in the diets of growing rabbits without any adverse effect on their performance.

This study evaluated the effect of chemical treated groundnut shells supplemented with xylanase and glucanase in rations of Yankasa rams on growth performance in Nigeria. It was carried out at the Small Ruminant Unit of Adamawa Sta\te University Teaching and Research Farm, Mubi. The study was designed in a 4×2 factorial arrangement with 4 rams per treatment in a completely randomised design. The experimental animals were housed in well ventilated environment and they were comfortable. Basic routine management were carried out. The experimental rations were formulated to meet the requirements of the rams. The experiment lasted for 90 days. Parameters under consideration were weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion ratio. Significant (P<0.05) and non-significant (P>0.05) effects were observed from the results obtained. The results show that rams receiving glucanase and untreated groundnut shells improved both weight gain (8.71 kg) and average daily weight gain (103.64 g/d); and increased both feed intake (65.79 kg) and average daily feed intake (783.20 g/d). However, feed conversion ratio was relatively least in the group of rams receiving urea treated groundnut shells (7.18) compared to other treatments. It was concluded that untreated and urea treated groundnut shells supplemented with glucanase could improve weight gain, feed intake and feed efficiency in Yankasa rams.

No abstract

To determine the influence of sorghum variety, planting dates and ages of harvest on growth parameters and forage yield of grain sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) in Shika, Nigeria, an experiment was conducted in split plots in the National Animal Production Research Institute, Shika, Nigeria. The experimental treatments comprised of two sorghum varieties (SAMSORG-16 as V1 and SAMSORG-17 as V2), three planting dates (15th June, 30th June and 14th July as P1, P2 and P3) and three ages of harvest (6, 10 and 14 weeks after sowing as C1, C2 and C3), respectively. Results showed that plant height of sorghum bicolor significantly (P<0.05) differed between variety with higher values in Samsorg-16. Plant height, number of leaves and leaf area index (LAI) decreased (P<0.05) from 15th June to 14th July planting date. However, there was a significant increasing trend (P<0.05) in these parameters as ages of harvest advanced from 6 to 14 week after sowing (WAS). Significant (P<0.05) interaction effect between variety and planting date was observed for plant height.  Similarly, significant (P<0.05) interaction effect was observed in the number of leaves and LAI. There was non-significant (P>0.05) effect of variety on fresh and dry forage yields. Fresh and dry forage yields declined from 54.73 and 10.49 t/ha to 30.72 and 6.11 t/ha from 15th June to 14th July planting dates, respectively. Whereas fresh and dry forage yields increased from 12.22 and 1.37 t/ha to 58.94 and 14.47 t/ha as ages of harvest increased from 6 to 14 WAS,