Browsing by Author "Tona, G. O"

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    Evaluation of the Nutritive Value of Selected Browse Plant Species in the Southern Guinea Savannah of Nigeria for Feeding to Ruminant Animals
    (2015) Ogunbosoye, D. O; Tona, G. O; Otukoya F.K
    One of the major problems of ruminant production in the tropics is the scarcity of quality forage all the year round. Gliricidia sepium which remains green even during drought has been extensively used for forage during forage scarcity. However, there is need to screen more browse species to broaden the feed base to improve ruminant animal production. Ten common but less utilized browse plants (Ficus polita, Ficus cogensis, Daniella oleiveri, Prosopis africana, Parkia biglobosa, Gliricidia sepium, Ecliptaalba, Albizia odoratissima, Polyalthia longifolia and Moringaoleifera) were evaluated for their nutrient composition. Results showed that crude protein content was highest (29.60%) in Moringa oleifera and lowest (15.84%) in Daniella oleiveri. Crude fibre compositions ranged between 13.87% - 29.33% in Albizia odoratissima and Parkia biglobosa respectively. A range of 3.25% - 6.30% and 6.68%-9.45% values were recorded for EE and ash respectively for the ten browse plants. The values reported for mineral content showed that M. oleifera had the lowest value of Ca (0.68%), P (0.15%) and Mg (0.25%). Eclipta alba was observed to be richest in mineral elements amongst the browse species with the highest concentrations of Ca, Mg, P, K, Zn, Fe, Cu and S. The fibre contents of the forages showed a range of 42.41 to 61.31, 29.51 to 49.58, 5.71 to 9.27, and 10.98 to12.90 for NDF, ADF, ADL and hemicelluloses respectively. The nonfibrous carbohydrate (NFC) contents of the browse species were observed to vary widely ranging from 6.59 (Pakia biglobosa) to 22.16% (Gliricidia sepium). The values reported for anti-nutritive factors (tannin, saponin, phytate and oxalate) were low in all species. The results of this study showed that the browse species in general contained high levels of nutrients and hence have potential as good feedstuffs for ruminant animal feeding.
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    Growth performance and nutrient digestibility of West African Dwarf goats fed graded levels of Moringa oleifera leaf meal
    (2014) Tona, G. O; Ogunbosoye, D. O; B.A.Bakare
    A sixty one days feeding trial was conducted to determine the total feed intake, live weight gain and digestibility coefficients of WAD goats (bucks) fed basal diet of Panicum maximum (guinea grass) and concentrate diet containing Moringa oleifera leaf meal (MOL) at 0%, 5%, 10% and 15% levels. The animals were allocated to four dietary treatments of three goats per treatment in a completely randomized design experiment. Feed intake, live weight gain and digestibility coefficients were determined. The results showed that the WAD goats fed the concentrate diet with 15% level of inclusion of Moringa oleifera leaf meal had significantly higher (P<0.05) rate of growth and digestibility coefficients than those on the 5% and 10% inclusion levels.
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    Milk yield (offtake) and composition of White Fulani cows under free range grazing without and with concentrate supplementation
    (2017) Tona, G. O; Ogunbosoye, D. O; Babalola D.D; Oladimeji R.T
    The influence of supplementation with concentrate on milk yield (offtake) and composition in grazing White Fulani cows was investigated. Fourteen multiparous lactating White Fulani cows were assigned into two treatments of seven cows per treatment in a completely randomized design. Milk yield declined slightly from early lactation (2.01 and 2.23 kg/cow/day) to mid lactation (1.98 and 2.34 kg/cow/day) and then to late lactation (1.12 and 1.47 kg/cow/day) in the experimental cows under free range grazing only without concentrate supplementation (treatment 1) versus those offered free grazing plus concentrate (treatment 2). Milk crude protein contents were 3.55 and 3.80%, milk fat values were 4.46 and 4.70% and milk ash contents were 1.39 and 1.54%, in treatments 1 and 2 respectively. Milk mineral composition values were as follows: calcium (130.00 and 144.44 mg/100g); phosphorus (90.00 and 93.89 mg/100g); iron gave the lowest values (2.29 and 2.65 mg/100g) while sodium concentrations were highest (353.89 and 372.78 mg/100g). All observed results were significantly (P<0.05) higher in treatment 2 than in treatment 1. There were positive correlations between milk yield versus crude protein, solids-not-fat, total solids (r = 0.525; 0.552; 0.561) respectively. In conclusion, improvement in milk yield and composition of grazing cows could be achieved through concentrate supplementation.
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    Nutritive Value Assessment of Four Crop Residues by Proximate Composition and In Vitro Rumen Fermentation Techniques
    (2015) Tona, G. O; Ogunbosoye, D. O; Ayano, M.O
    This study estimated the proximate composition and in vitro gas production parameters of rice husk, bean waste, citrus pulp and maize stover, in a rumen incubation system. The incubation was for 24 h with measurement of gas production volume over incubation periods of 3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21 and 24 hours. The crude protein ranged 1.92 to 11.75% and the crude fibre ranged between 9.68 and 45.09%. The potential gas production (a+b) was rated highest in both citrus pulp and maize stover (48.33 ml), next was bean waste (42.00 ml) and lowest was rice husk (25 ml). The ranges of values of metabolizable energy (ME), organic matter digestibility (OMD) and short chain fatty acids(SCFA) were 6.33 to 9.24 MJ/kg DM, 52.70 to 64.69 % and 0.94 to 1.09 μmol respectively. The values of ME, OMD and SCFA ranked as, citrus pulp > maize stover> bean waste > rice husk. The higher values obtained for the potential gas production (a+b), ME, OMD and SCFA in citrus pulp and maize stover could imply higher nutrient availability for the rumen micro-organisms. The results revealed that citrus pulp and maize stover could be of higher nutritional value in ruminants feed than bean waste, while rice husk was lowest.