Nutrients Digestibility, Nitrogen Balance and Blood Profile of West African Dwarf (Wad) Goats Fed Cassava Peels with Urea-molasses Multi-nutrient Block (UMMB) Supplements

Abstract

The nutrients digestibility, nitrogen utilization and blood profile of West African Dwarf (WAD) goat fed cassava peels with urea-molasses multi-nutrients block (UMMB) supplements was investigated in a twelve weeks experiment. Twenty WAD goats that weighed 8.33±0.35 kg on average were assigned to each of the five experimental diets that contained cassava peels without UMMB supplement (treatment 1) and with UMMB containing 0% urea (treatment 2), 5% urea (treatment 3), 10% urea (treatment 4) and 15% urea (treatment 5), in a completely randomized design (CRD). Results of the study revealed that nutrients digestibility were significantly (P<0.05) influenced by UMMB supplementation. Goats fed diet T4 also had the highest values of digestibility coefficients of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), crude fibre (CF) and nitrogen free extract (83.05%, 71.97%, 67.64% and 71.34%)  respectively. Nitrogen retention was significantly (P<0.05) influenced by dietary treatments, the values ranged from 0.75 g/day (diet T1) to 6.07 g/day (diet T5). Haematological indices and serum biochemistry were within normal range for WAD goats. Conclusively it can be said that urea-molasses multi-nutrient blocks is offers a reliable source of protein for improved nutrients digestibility and nitrogen utilization by WAD goats fed cassava peels without detrimental effects on the wellbeing of the goats.