PERFORMANCE AND CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS OF WEST AFRICAN DWARF (WAD) GOATS FED CASSAVA PEEL MEAL BASED DIETS SUPPLEMENTED WITH AFRICAN YAMBEAN CONCENTRATE

This study evaluated the effect of cassava peel meal (CPM) based – diets supplemented with African yambean (Sphenostylis stenocarpa) seed meal (AYBM) on the growth performance and carcass characteristics of West African Dwarf (WAD) goats. Four diets were formulated containing CPM (46 % each) and AYBM at 0, 10, 20 and 30 % levels designated as A, B, C, and D respectively. Twenty intact weaned bucks weighing between 6.5 and 10.5 kg were randomly assigned to the experimental diets after weight equalization with 5 bucks per treatment in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) experiment which lasted for 56 days. Growth performance parameters were determined during the feeding trial while carcass and organ characteristics were evaluated at the end of the trial. Results showed that the average daily weight gain was significantly (P<0.05) different between treatments with the following values 36.07, 98.05, 124.82 and 108.04 g/buck for diets A, B, C and D, respectively. The feed gain ratio was also significantly (P<0.05) affected by treatments, bucks fed the AYBM diets had better FCR compared with the control diet. The dressing percentage (40.39, 51.90, 53.40 and 52.29 %), bone to lean meat ratio (0.31, 0.30, 0.19 and 0.) absolute weight values were significantly (P<0.05) different between dietary treatments A, B, C, and D respectively. The diets also recorded significant (P<0.05) increases in the weight of liver, heart, spleen lungs and gut as the levels of AYBM increased across the treatment groups. However, the relative weight values of all the carcass parameters did not reveal any significant effects of dietary treatments. The study therefore concludes that cassava peel meal based diets supplemented with African yambean enhanced the growth performance and carcass characteristics of goat bucks compared with the control diet. It is therefore recommended that farmers can include up to 30% AYBM in cassava peel meal based – diets meant for goats in the tropics.