Dry Seasons Feeding Regimes for Ruminants and Their Rumen Degradation Characteristics in a Semi-Arid Environment of Nigeria

Abstract

The experiment was conducted at the university of Maiduguri teaching and research farm and ten formulations were developed using wheat offal, sorghum husk, and cowpea husk as energy sources and cottonseed cake, poultry litter as protein sources. The result from the rumen degradation shows that at 6, 12, 18, 24, 36 and 48 hours formulation 7 recorded highest (P<0.05), while formulation 2 recorded lowest (P>0.05) percent degradability. At 72 hours formulation 8 recorded highest (P<0.05) percent degradability, followed by formulation 7 and the lowest was recorded in formulation 2. The highest cost of production was recorded in formulation 8, while the lowest cost was recorded in formulation 1 and 4. The study shows that formulation 7 which has (82%) degradability rate at 72 hours of incubation, with crude protein of 12.08% and with moderate cost of N3, 800.00/100kg has been recommended to be used for feeding ruminant’s animal during the dry seasons when the pasture are of poor quality, which limit their performance.