SAHELIAN BUCKS FED GRADED LEVELS OF UREA-TREATED SESAME STRAW DIETS

Abstract

The experiment was conducted to determine the effects of graded levels of urea treated sesame straw (UTSS) diets on growth performance, carcass characteristics and fatty acid profile of Sahel bucks. Feeding trial of 84 days was carried out at the Livestock Teaching and Research Farm of the Centre for Dry-land Agriculture, Bayero University, Kano. A total of sixteen (16) Sahelian bucks with body weight between 11-14 ± 1.0 kg were randomly assigned to four different dietary groups (A, B, C, & D) containing 0, 10, 20 and 30% inclusion levels of urea treated sesame straw (UTSS) in a completely randomized design (CRD) with four replications each. The results obtained indicated that, there were no significant (P>0.05) differences among the experimental diets with regard to proximate and fiber fraction compositions as well as weight of visceral organs and non-carcass cuts. The study revealed that, feed intakes and body weight gain were affected by UTSS inclusions (p<0.05) and better feed conversion ratio (7.14) was observed at 30% UTSS level of inclusion compared to the value for control diet (19.41). Significant differences (p<0.05) with respect to carcass cuts, carcass weight and dressing percentage were also observed. It is concluded that Inclusion of UTSS up to 30% in the diet of Sahel bucks had positive effects on growth performance, carcass weight and dressing percentage Sahelian bucks. It is therefore recommended that UTSS be used as ruminant feedstuff particularly during feed scarcity for improved performance and enhance meat quality. Further studies should be carried out to determine the effects of dietary inclusion of urea-treated sesame straw on fatty acids profile and phytochemicals of Sahelian bucks and to compare the effectiveness of urea-treated sesame straw meal with other abundant fibrous crop residues on growth performance as well as fatty acids profile of goats/sheep