ABSTRACT

 In two experiments, the influence of varying levels of Brewers dried gains (BDG) on nutrient digestibility, growth Performance and hematological profile, by West African Dwarf(WAD) Goats were evaluated. Three treatment diets designated as Tl, T2 and T3 were formulated, to contain varying levels of Brewers Dried Grain (BDG). In experiments I, nutrient digestibility and apparent nitrogen utilization by WAD goats were evaluated while a feeding trial constituted experiment II. In the first study the diets containing 0 %( Tl), 10 %( T2) and 20% (T3) of BDG were randomly allotted to individual animals in metabolic cages in a 3X3 Latin square design. Results showed that the BDG and cassava peel meal contained 89.34 and 91.2I%DM; 25.52 and 6.90%CP; 10.29 and 13.35%CF; 7.14 and 4.20%E.E; 48.63 and64.06% N.F.E; 3.75 and 4.69%Ash and 1.92 and 1.72mJ/kg Energy. Similarly, the diets, Tl, T2 and T3 contained 16.43, 18.51 and 19.56% CP and 1.76, 1.79 and 1.72% MJ/kg energy respectively. All the nutrients evaluated for apparent nutrients digestibility showed no significant difference (P>0.05). However the values for crude protein intake (CPI), Nitrogen intake (NI), Nitrogen Absorbed (NA) and Nitrogen Balance (NB) were higher in T3 followed by T2 and Tl.The values were 91.72,82.23 and 74.04g/d CPI; 14.67,13.16 and 11.85g/d NI; 11.16, 9.01 and 8.25g/d NA; and 10.34, 8.66 and 8.02g/d NB; respectively. The differences could be attributed to T2 and T3 having an inclusion level of BDG than Tl which was the control. However all the animals were in positive nitrogen balance. In experiment two, 9 WAD goats weighing 6.13 - 6.20kg at the beginning of the experiment were randomly assigned to the experimental diets used in experiment I in a 56-day feeding trial. Data on growth performance, carcass yield and blood profiles of the experimental animals were determined. Only the final body weight gain, total weight gain and average daily gain showed significant (P<0.05) differences across dietary treatments. While data on initial body weight, total feed intake, average daily intake, feed intake as% of live weight and feed conversion ratio showed no statistical differences (P>0.05) across dietary treatments. The slaughter weight, warm carcass weight, dressing percentage and empty weights showed, no statistical (P>0.05) difference among treatment means. The effects of dietary treatment on meat cut as% of warm carcass weight differed significantly (P<0.05) for the leg cuts, loin cuts and end cuts while the set, shoulder, abdominal fat and ratio of bone to lean were not significantly (P>0.05) influenced by the diet. The value for leg cuts, loin cuts and end cuts were 17.41, 15.85 and 19.90% leg; 21.24, 22.09 and 20.15% loins and 18.70, 20.96 and 18.87% end cut for Tl, T2 and T3 respectively. All the offals/organs except the skin, livers, testes and empty gut were affected significantly (P<0.05) by the diets while other portions were similar (P>0.05).The white blood cell (WBC) count and mean corpuscular volume (MCV) were significantly (P<0.05) different at the end of the 8 Weeks feeding trial. While PCV, Hb, RBC, MCH and MCHC showed no significant (P>0.05) differences across treatment means. The WBC ranged from 12.66x106 mm3 in T3 to 20.45xl06 mm3 in Tl and MCV ranged from 56.99(fl) to 58.66(fl). The blood glucose level, ALT, cholesterol and triglyceride were statistically (P<0.05) different across treatment groups. While the total protein, albumin, globulin, AST, blood urea and creatinine remained statistically unaffected, (P>0.05). Higher glucose level (60.33mg/’dl) was recorded for goats on Tl followed by goats on T3 (57.33mg/dl) while goats on T2 had the least (53.00mg/dl). It could be deduced from these results that the performance of WAD goats was enhanced by the different dietary treatments. Increasing the level of BDG in the experimental diet to 20% promoted better performance in terms ofthe various parameters studied. Hence, the adoption of BDG in a complete diet for efficient ruminant animal production is recommended.