Studies on Feed Intake in the West African Dwarf Sheep

Effects of supplementation on voluntary dry matter intake, growth and nutrient digestibility of the Fiji Fantastic sheep on a basal diet of Guinea grass (Panicum maximum)

“…High DMI was influenced by crude protein (CP) content of diets. Concentrate mixture had the highest crude protein level (16.4%) and our results support the report of Adu and Olaloku (1976) that used a concentrate mixture for sheep. However, it has been observed that DMI could be favorably influenced by dietary CP level (Karim et al, 2001;Karim and Santra, 2003).…”

“…DM, CP, fibre fractions, ash, organic matter (OM) and gross energy of the concentrate mixture were close to values reported by Adu and Olaloku (1976) for similar concentrate mixture. The CP content of 16.4% was higher than value recommended for moderate growth of early-weaned sheep (NRC, 1985(NRC, , 2001.…”

“…In the dry and cool season period most tropical grasses have very low nutritive value due to high cell wall contents (Minson, 1971;Gihad, 1976;Aregheore, 2001). The low DMI of FF sheep on forage alone is in agreement with Adu and Olaloku (1976) and Buxton (1996) who reported that season and environmental conditions affects the forage quality and subsequently DMI.…”

“…The crushed wheat grain supplement was not well consumed and digested by the sheep. Studies by Adu and Olaloku (1976) and Hadjipanayiotou (1990) confirmed that processed cereal grain was of no value to lambs, however grinding and mixing of cereal grains with other ingredients in concentrate mixture resulted in better food to gain ratio and productive responses in lambs.…”

“…DMI of the FF sheep was in the range of 1.8% to 2.6% of their body weight and this was similar to 2.8% reported by Devendra and Burns (1970) for sheep. Adu and Olaloku (1976) reported values of 1.97% to 2.96% for the West African dwarf sheep. It was observed in this study that sheep of 32.7 kg body weight on the crushed wheat grain and concentrate mixture had DMI that ranged from 1.8% to 2.6% of live-weight, and these values are lower than values reported for similar age and weight of sheep in ARC (1980) and NRC (1985, 2001 tables.…”