ABSTRACT

The study was conducted to analyse the chemical composition of selected browse plants determines the nutrient intake and digestibility of same with West African dwarf (WAD) goat. Four selected browse plants foliage which included; Ficus polita, Elaeis guineensis Manniophyton fulvum, Alchornea cordifolia designated diets A, B, C and D respectively were used to conduct the study. All browse plants foliage were served separately in metabolism cages in a 4×4 Latin square design experiment to four WAD buck of average weight 10.39 ± 0.14 Kg, aged between 7 and 8 months. Data were collected on proximate composition, anti-nutrients contents of the browses, nutrient intake and digestibility and simple regression and correlation co-efficient of some digestion parameters. The dry matter content of the browses ranged from 85.35 to 88.58% with Ficus polita recording the highest (P0.01) value. The crude protein content ranged from 10.25 to 14.00% with the highest (P0.01) value obtained in Manniophyton fulvum. Crude fibre contents ranged from 18.05 to 37.50% with Ficus polita having the highest (P0.01) value. Tannins contents ranged from 0.28 to 4.10 Mg/g DM with the lowest (P0.01) value obtained in Manniophyton fulvum, while the highest value was obtained from Alchornea cordifolia. Phytate, oxalate and cyanide contents ranged from 0.06 to 23.07, 0.29 to 5.04 and 1,28 to 2.14 Mg/g DM respectively. DMI (g/d) ranged from 493.63 to 717.41 with the highest (P0.01) value obtained from animals that consumed Ficus polita. Nitrogen intake values ranged from 9.15 to 15.77 g/d with Elaeis guineensis group recording the highest (P0.01) N-intake. The nitrogen balance values ranged from 7.59 to 12.34 g/d with the highest value obtained in Ficus polita. Apparent N-digestibility values ranged from 87.31 to 90.84% with Ficus polita recording the highest (P0.01) values. Higher (P0.01) dry matter and crude fibre digestibility values of 78.25 and 86.46% respectively were obtained in Ficus polita. The highest (P0.01) crude protein digestibility value (86.52%) was obtained in Manniophyton fulvum. The MFN (g/100g DM), EUN (g/day/WKg ^0.75) and DCP (g/day/WKg ^0.75) ranged from 0.1120 to 0.1529, 1.120 to 1.614 and 0.12 to 0.89 respectively. Biological values ranged from 65 to 78%. The correlation coefficient (r) did not indicate significant (P0.01) difference. All the browse plant foliage promoted positive N-balance in the goats and could be served as good forage feed resources for goats in the tropical rainforest zone of Nigeria, especially in the dry season. However, Ficus polita having the highest dry matter content (88.58%) with adequate crude protein content (10.50%) and crude fibre content (37.50%) with highest N-balance value could be recommended as the best browse plant foliage for goats in the rainforest zone of Nigeria.