Voluntary Intake Digestibility And Nitrogen Balance Of Coats Fed Maize Offal Supplemented With Cassava Leaf Meal

ABSTRACT

Four West African Dwarf(WAD) goats aged 6-8 months and weighing 8-10kg were used in a digestibility study to determine die intake and nutrients digestibility of dried cassava leaf meal (DCLM) based diets. The animals were confined individually in metabolism cages and fed one of the diets containing DCLM as follows: Diets (A) control 0%, Diet (B) I 0%, Diet (C) 20% and Diet (D) 30%. The diets were assigned to the animals in a 4x4 Latin square arrangeme:it. Weekly body weights and daily feed intakes as well as daily urine output were recorded. l)iy matter ( l)M) intake, nutrient digestibility and nitrogen balance were also computed. 1'he diets (A-D) contained O.9 I, I .80; 9.10, 1.65; 10.00, 1.70 and 10.85, 1.75 crude protein (%) and gross energy (MJ/Kg DM) respectively. The diy matter, crude protein, and crude fibre digestibility values were 72.50, 73.00. 67.80; 59.20,84.90, 65.60;55.5Q,79.60,66.70 and 66.90, 71.90, 65.20 percent for diets A, B, C and D respectively. Average nitrogen intake (g/day) and faccal -N were significantly different (P< 0.05) among treatments, whereas urinary- N did not differ (P>0.05). Similarly, apparent nitrogen digestibility values were not signi fican1y different among treatments. The values were 70.10, 52. 20, 55. 21 and 45.67 percent for the respective dietary treatments. The lest diets promoted positive nitrogen balance among the experimental an i inal s.