INTAKE AND NUTRIENT DIGESTIBILITY IN SHEEP FED SOME SEMI-ARID BROWSE PLANTS

Abstract

The study was conducted to determine the intake and nutrient digestibility in sheep fed dried leaves of four browse plants. Four sheep of mixed breed (Uda and Yankasa) weighing an average of 28.4kg each were used for the study. The treatments are Ziziphus mauritania (A), Balanites aegyotica (B). Ficus sycomorus (C), and Celtis integrifolia (D). The animals were weighed and randomly allocated to four treatments in a 4x4 Latin square design with four periods. Each period lasted for three weeks. The dry matter and crude protein content of the treatments range from 92.2% to 95.6% and 12.78% to 17.33%, respectively. The crude fibre content ranged from 25.0% to 30.5% while the ether extract content ranged from 2.0% to 3.0%. Nutrient digestibility ranged from 58.13% to 65.17%, 72.37% to 94.18% and 52.71% to 64.90% for dry matter, crude protein and crude fibre, respectively. Dry matter intake for treatment D was significantly higher (P<0.05) than that of treatments A and C. There was no significant different in crude fiber digestibility of treatments A and B. The results from this study indicated that browse plants used have high nutritional value and therefore could serve as supplementary feed especially during the dry season in the semi-arid zone where dry grass and crops residues are the only available feed resources.