THE PERFORMANCE OF BALAMI RAMS FED DIFFERENT SUPPLEMENTAL PROTEIN SOURCES AND A BASAL DIET OF SIGNAL GRASS (Brachiaria decumbens) HAY

Abstract

The influence of different supplemental protein sources on the performance of Balami Rams was conducted using twenty (20) experimental Rams. The rams were allocated to four treatments with five animals per treatment as replicates. Supplementary diets A, B, C and D were allocated as one supplement per treatment. The supplementary diet containing Cotton Seed Cake and Maize offal was fed to group A, Group B animals were fed supplementary diet containing Poultry litter and Maize offals. Diets containing Moringa olifera and Maize offals was fed to C treatment and D group was the Control treatment with only maize offal (Table I), while Signal grass (Brachiaria decumbens) as the basal diet, water, and salt blocks were provided ad libitum throughout the feeding trial of ninety (90)days. The result showed that the average daily feed intake shows significant (P<0.05) difference between the treatments with a value of 996.00g//d in treatment C to 888.00 g//d in treatment D (control).The total weight gain(TWG) indicate significant (P<0.05) difference between the treatments .The mean total weight gain of 4.52kg was obtained in treatment C followed by 4.12 and 3.56kg for treatment A and B respectively while treatment D (2.68kg) had the lowest weight gain. The highest average daily weight gain (50.22g/d) was recorded in treatment C (P<0.05), while treatment D (Control) had the least value of 29.78g/d. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was highest (27.75) in treatment D and lowest in treatment C (19.82) However, supplementing Balami lambs with Moringa olifera mixed with Maize offals performed better than poultry litter and cotton seed