PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS AND SERUM BIOCHEMICAL INDICES PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS AND SERUM BIOCHEMICAL INDICES OF WEST AFRICAN DWARF GOATS FED MALTED SORGHUM SPROUT MIXEDOF WEST AFRICAN DWARF GOATS FED MALTED SORGHUM SPROUT MIXED WITH PINEAPPLE WASTE

Abstract

A twelve-week trial was carried out to determine the performance characteristics and serum biochemical

indices of West African dwarf (WAD) goats fed malted sorghum sprout mixed with pineapple waste (MSPW).

The malted sorghum sprout and pineapple waste was mixed at ratio 1:2 (weight/weight) to obtain the MSPW mixture. A total of sixteen WAD goats with an average initial weight of 6 +1.20 kg were randomly allotted into four (4) dietary treatments in a completely randomized design. Each treatment group was replicated four times. Four (4) dietary treatments (T1,T2,T3; and T4) were formulated to contain 0%, 20%, 40% and 60% of MSPW respectively. Data were collected on the growth performance and serum biochemistry. Results revealed that there was no significant (P>0.05) differences on all the performance parameters measured. The highest value of Final Body Weight (7.79 kg), Average daily weight gain (19.21 g/day), Metabolic weight (9.14 g/day W’”) and Concentrate Dry Matter Intake (200.03 g/day) were observed in T2, while the lowest values were obtained in T3, Moreover goats on T2, had the best feed conversion ratio (17.15). No significant differences (P>0.05) among treatments were observed on all the serum biochemical indices in this study except the albumin and creatinine which ranged from 2.63-3.52 g/dl and 0.90 - 1.50 mg/dl respectively. It can be concluded that WAD goats fed 20% MSPW yielded the best results in terms of performance and there was no detrimental effect on their serum biochemical indices.