PERFORMANCE OF YANKASA SHEEP GRAZING NATURAL PASTURE SUPPLEMENTED WITH MAIZE OFFAL

An experiment was conducted to assess the performance of yankasa sheep grazing natural pasture at the University Livestock Teaching and Research Farm in Mubi. Twelve (12) yankasa sheep with average weight of 23.2kg were allotted to four levels of concentrates at 0, 100, 150 and 200g which constitute the treatments designated T1, T2, T3 and T4 respectively. Treatment one had zero supplementation and served as the control. The result of weight gain indicated significant variation (p?0.05). Treatment three (150g maize offal) and treatment four (200g maize offal) recorded the highest weight gains of 29.13kg and 29.67kg respectively. The results of concentrate intake also revealed significant difference (p?0.05). The intake ranges from 49.08g to 77.28g. No mortality was recorded throughout the experimental period. Supplementation of maize offal up to 200g is recommended for sheep grazing natural pasture. Further studies should be conducted on the utilization of sorghum offal and millet offal with a view to assess their nutritional value to sheep.