ISAR Publisher

International Scientific and Academic Research Publisher

Submit Manuscript

GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND BLOOD CHARACTERISTICS OF WEST AFRICAN DWARF GOATS FED PROCESSED UNRIPE PLANTAIN PEEL MEAL BASED DIETS


Author: Etido Paul Umoren*, Tessy Michael Akpan, Thaddeus Nanevfa Kperun, Aloysius Ausaji Ayuk and Magnus Izah Anya
Department of Animal Science, University of Calabar, PMB 1115 Calabar, Nigeria.
Published Date: 2024-08-13
GoogleScholar: Click here
Keywords: plantain peel, wastes, feed resources, WAD goats, blood profile, processing.
Abstract:
A Twelve week feeding trial was conducted to examine the effect of unripe plantain peel meal based diets on the growth performance, haematological and serum biochemical characteristics of West African Dwarf (WAD) goats. Thirty two (32) WAD goats between 5 and 6 months old with average initial body weight of 6.37 kg were allotted to four dietary treatments, of unripe plantain peel at different processing methods, using a Completely Randomized Design (CRD). Growth performance was monitored during the feeding trial. At the end of Twelve weeks feeding trial, blood samples were taken from each goat (16 goats) through the jugular vein using a 10 ml gauge (5 cm) needle with 4 ml of blood drawn from each goat per treatment for analysis. The results showed that the values obtained for final body weight ranged between 7.51 kg and 11.00 kg, and the overall mean for feed intake was between 2079.00 g and 2517.90 g. The overall mean weight gain was between 60.75 g and 379.33 g. The response of the animals to the different processing methods showed that feed intake recorded the highest values in T3 (fermented unripe plantain peel diet) and T4 (Urea treated unripe plantain peel diet), though there was no significant (P>0.05) difference. The values obtained for haematological parameters and serum biochemical indices were significantly different (P<0.05) between dietary treatments, and the results obtained showed better values for WAD goats fed urea treated and fermented treatment diets. The study concluded that processed unripe plantain peel meal can serve as an alternative feed source for WAD goats especially when supply of forages is low without any deleterious effect on the growth performance and blood characteristics.