ABSTRACT

A total of fourteen West African Dwarf (WAD) sheep (U ewes and 2 rams) were used. The rams were used for mating while the twelve WAD ewes and their lambs were used to study the effect of Cyperus esculeiflus L. on milk yield, composition and lambs growth. The animals were assigned to two treatment groups, T1 and T2, represented as control and treated respectively. The ewes in T2(Treated) group received diet containing 20% tiger nut inclusion immediately after lambing at 0.5 kg/ewe/day while the T1 were fed concentrate diet devoid of tiger nut. Milking of the animals started one-week post- partum and lasted for twelve weeks. Results showed that Cyperus escu/entus generally enhanced milk yield with a significant difference (P<0.05). The mean milk yield of ewes in T2was 506.68 g while T1 was 389.64 g. Colostrums were collected and analyzed from days 1 to 4 post-partum. There was significantly higher (P<0.05) lactose content in the colostrum of the control (3.56%) than that of the treated group (3.36%). Normal milk lactose from control ewes was 3.3 8% and was significantly higher (P<0.05) than that of the treated group, which was 3.29%. At weeks 1, 3, 4, 8, 11 and 12, lactose content of milk of ewes in control group were 3.56, 3.59, 3.51, 3.30, 3.21, and 3.20% respectively, and were significantly higher (P<0.05) than those of their respective counterparts in the treated group which were 3.36, 3.39, 3.38, 3.24, 3.18 and 3.15. Lambs of control ewes weighed significantly (P<zo.05) more than those of the treated (3.08 kg and 2.52 kg respectively). The lower weight in lambs from T2 could be due to multiple births in this group. Packed Cell Volume (PVC), White Blood Cell Count (WBC) and Red Blood Cell Count (RBC) showed no difference (P>0.05) between the two groups.