Nutrients Utilization and Haematological Indices of Sokoto Red Goats Fed Maize Cob Replacing Maize Bran with Cowpea Husk Basal Diet

Experiment was conducted to determine the effects of feeding maize bran, maize cob and cowpea husk on feed utilization and hematological indices of Red Sokoto goats. Twenty four (24) bucks with average age and weight of 12 months and 12.00 Kg respectively were randomly subjected to six (6) dietary treatments each having four replicates. The diets consisted of maize cob replacing maize bran at 0, 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50% levels designated as T1, T2, T3, T4, T5 and T6 respectively in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD. Cowpea husk was given to all animals ad libitum as basal diet. Adaptation period of 14 days was followed by 84 days of data collection. Animals were confined in metallic metabolism cages for metabolic trial for 14 days. Feeds and faecal samples were analyzed for their proximate composition using standard procedures. Urines were collected to determine their nitrogen contents. Parameters determined were dry matter intakes, weight gains, digestibility, feed efficiencies, protein/nitrogen intakes and retention. Haematological indices considered were packed cell volume (PCV), red blood cell counts (RBC), white blood cell counts (WBC), total protein (TP), Albumin, Globulin and blood glucose/urea. Dry matter intake (DMI) and Faecal output (FO) were significantly (P<0.05) affected with treatments T1 and T6having the highest and least DMI of 408.86 g and 313.57 g respectively. Faecal output had T1 (134.64 g) highest and T4 (110 g), the least. No significant difference occurred across treatments for protein intakes, faecal protein/nitrogen, nitrogen retention and retention as percentage of intakes. For hematological indices, values for PCV, RBC, WBC, Blood urea, blood protein and glucose fell within the normal ranges for healthy goats. In conclusion, the diets up to 50% maize cob inclusion were found to supply the needed nutrients which enabled the animals utilize feeds effectively, increased weights and maintain the normal healthy blood profiles.