| Two experiments (survey and feeding trial) were conducted in this study. The first Experiment was a Survey carried out at the West African Pilot Learning Sites, of Kano-Katsina-Maradi Pilot Learning Site (KKM PLS), Under the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) Challenge Project. The Survey was carried out to investigate the opinions of 100 households selected by random sampling from 5 targeted villages of Faruruwa, Alajawa, Ishiyawa, Fanteka and Kututture with 20 respondents per village. Data collected on all the households were analyzed using Descriptive Statistics by the application of Excel Spread Sheet. The most common livestock owned by farmers in these villages were goats and sheep, with 90.7% of the respondents owning does with kids and over 80% ownership of bucks. Possession of sheep with lambs and local breeds of rams constituted over 70%. Most farmers (62%) commonly owned less than 5 goats, while over 67% owned less than 5rams. Cattle ownership was less as compared to small ruminants in all the villages. Bucks and rams were owned by 81.5% and 71.3% respondents, respectively indicating the potential for small ruminant fattening programs as a means of income. Twenty five (25) % of the small ruminants were sold due to a lack of feed. Cattle were mostly housed in open kraal while small ruminants were provided with mud houses and kraals with roofs. More than 95% of respondents reported collecting crop residues for feeding, with less than 5% stating that they grazed residues in the field. Seventy-four percent (74%) of respondents reported purchasing sorghum and millet stover while 61 and 63% reported purchasing cowpea and groundnut haulms, respectively. Average prices paid per bundle (averaged 12kg) were N71 for sorghum stover and N72 for millet stover, indicating similar value for the two types of residue. The price per bag (averaged 17kg) of cowpea haulms was N340 and for groundnut haulms was N475. Bags of groundnut haulms are often slightly heavier than those of cowpea but groundnut often brings a slightly higher price even on an equal weight basis. Purchases of crop residues were made from as far away as 4-5 km in most cases and as far as about 15-25 km on big market days in minor cases. Farmers purchased concentrate feeds throughout the year. Average price of cottonseed cake was N2364 per 50 kg bag, N2226 for 50 kg wheat bran and N140 for 20 kg local mineral salt called (Kanwa). Land and occurrence of drought are perceived to be major constraints to livestock feeding. Over 80% were also willing to invest in improving animal health. The second Experiment was carried out to investigate the effect of supplementation of cowpea haulms at different feeding frequencies to sorghum stover basal diet on performance, and carcass characteristics. It involved fattening Yankasa rams in a 90day growth trial. A Completely Randomized Design (CRD) was applied with groups of eight rams (22.82 kg ±0.01) average weight and age (1.5 to 2 years), balanced by weight and allocated to five treatments; Basal sorghum stover as (Control) (T1), Control + 300g cowpea haulms fed once daily(T2), Control + 600g cowpea haulms fed once daily(T3), Control + 300g cowpea haulms fed twice daily (T4) and Control + 200g cowpea haulms fed thrice daily (T5). At the end of growth trial 8 rams from each group were slaughtered to study the carcass characteristics. Cell wall constituents (NDF, ADF and ADL) were higher in sorghum stover and cowpea haulms compared to wheat bran. The crude protein of cowpea haulms (13.35%) is higher than that of sorghum stover (1.77%). The average daily weight gain (ADWG) of ram fed T2 –T5 were significantly (P<0.05) higher than those fed T1 (Control) diet. Total feed intake TFI (g/d) was significantly (P<0.05) higher in rams fed treatmentsT2 to T5 diets and had similar trends for DM, OM NDF and ADF intakes. Increased supplementation of cowpea haulms resulted in more profit up to treatment T4 while the non-supplemented resulted in a loss. Hot carcass increased significantly (P<0.05) for the supplements compared to the control treatment, while dressing percentage was highest with the rams that received split supplemented feeds. Higher Total N was found in the manure supplemented group of rams relative to the Control, while the reverse was obtained in Total P. The present study indicated that supplementation with cowpea haulms at 600g/day, fed twice or thrice, with respective average daily weight gain values of 53.75g and 50.83g were found to be better in fattening Yankasa rams for profit in integrated crop-livestock farming systems FEBRUARY |
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