ACCEPTABILITY AND PERFORMANCE CHARACTERISTICS OF SHEEP FED VARYING PROPORTIONS OF OIL PALM SLURRY AND CASSAVA PEEL MIXTURES

Abstract

It is eminent that the amount of conventional feed stuff produced in Nigeria is not in adequate supply to meet the nutritional needs of both man and animals. Utilization of a mixture of Oil Palm Slurry (OPS) and Cassava Peel (CaP) which are alternative feed sources can enhance animal production. Coefficient of preference and Apparent digestibility by WAD sheep fed varying proportion of OPS and CaP was investigated. One litre OPS was mixed with 1Kg, 2Kg, 3Kg, 4Kg, 5Kg (Diets A - E) of Cap, respectively while 6Kg (Diet F) of CaP only served as the control. Result revealed that the Coefficient of preference (COP) was highest (1.41) for animals on diet C, while animals on diet F recorded least values of (0.75). Apparent digestibility of nutrients varied significantly. Crude protein digestibility ranged from 4.05 11.51 g/100 g DM in animals on diet F and Diet C respectively. Same trend was observed for digestibilities of crude fire, ether extract, nitrogen free extract and total digestible nutrients. The result showed that optimum digestibility was attained when 3.0kgCaP was fermented with 1.0 litre of OPS.