The utilization of some tropical browse plants by pregnant West African Dwarf goats in southern Nigeria
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Date
2012
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Abstract
A study on utilization of five tropical browses was carried out to investigate on the significant effect of these forages on the performance
of pregnant goats in relation to weight gain, birth weight, litter size and weight of the kids with their sex. Result revealed that daily dry
matter consumption of animals fed guinea grass was highest (1.17kg/day) while the least consumption was Gliricidia sepium (0.48kg/day).
The daily weight change of goat fed Albizia odoratissima was highest (85.3g/day) and lowest in animals fed guinea grass. The weight of
doe during pregnancy had effect on the litter size and birth weight of the kids. The weight of does fed albizia diet was highest and this
resulted into multiple birth and moderate birth weight. The study also showed that single birth kids were heavier than multiple births.
The result then revealed that where multiple births occurred, the males were heavier than females. It is therefore concluded that animals
fed Albizia odoratissima performed better than the rest, although all the forages used for this study sustained the pregnant does except
guinea grass which needs to be supplemented with either browse plants or concentrate.