Growth performance of castrated West African Dwarf Bucks fed varying levels of local brewers' dried grain with Ber (Ziziphus jujube) leaves basal diets

This study was designed to determine the effects of feeding varying levels of local brewers’ dried grain with Ber (Ziziphus jujube) leaves basal diet on the growth performance of castrated West African Dwarf bucks. Twelve West African Dwarf bucks with average age of twelve (12) months weighing about 13±0.7 Kg were subjected to four dietary treatments consisting of ber leaves (Ziziphus jujube) as basal diet, supplemented with local brewers’ dried grain at 50 g, 100 g, 150 g and 200 g designated as treatments T₁, T₂, T₃ and T₄ respectively. The parameters determined were proximate compositions of experimental diets and feces, dry matter intake, live weight, live weight changes and digestibility. These were used to determine growth performance, digestibility of treatment diets, feed conversion ratios and feed efficiencies. Proximate compositions of experimental diets and feces were determined. Total weight gain, average daily gain, feed conversion ratios, and feed efficiencies were influenced by the proportions of roughage and concentrate taken. While the dry matter intake of the supplemental diet differed significantly (P<0.05) across treatments, those of the basal feed were similar (P>0.05) across treatments. Final live weights differed (P<0.05) significantly across treatments with treatment T₄ (16.43 Kg) the highest and treatment T₁ (15.38 Kg) the lowest. The results also revealed that average daily weight gain, dry matter intake as percent of live weight, feed conversion ratio, feed conversion efficiency and dry matter digestibility were significantly (p<0.05) different across treatments. These parameters improved with increase in the levels of the supplemental diet. The study concluded that the diets may be used to supplement the existing feed resources for small ruminant and can help to bridge the wider gap between demand and supply of nutrients.