Meat and milk production by sheep and goats fed tropical herbage in Cameroon

摘要

In vivo dry matter and protein degredability of tropical feedstuff consumed by sheep and goats, showed that groundnut meal, soya bean meal, cassava leaves and cotton seed meal were highly degradable: 97.9 percent in sheep, 98.0 percent in goats; 95.9 percent in sheep, 95.7 percent in goats; 88.3 percent in sheep, 94.6 percent in goats and 90.6 percent in sheep and 93.6 percent in goats, respectively. Fishmeal was moderately degradable, 61.3 percent (dry matter) and 72.8 percent (protein), Palm kernel meal, blood meal and plantain leaves were less than 50 percent degraded after 48 hours of incubation. West African Dwarf (WAD) sheep and goats when fed elephant grass, Pennisetum purpureum and guatemala grass, Tripsacum laxum, supplemented with cottonseed meal, gained weight with animals fed elephant grass sustaining heavier body weights than those fed guatemala grass. Dairy kids of the Saanen, Toggenburg and Anglo-Nubian breeds did not grow as well as WAD meat animals on the same diets. Milk yieldsof 0.26 kg/doe/d for does fed elephant grass and 0.49kg/doe/d for those fed guatemala grass, were lower compared to values observed for these breeds under similar conditions. However, milk fat and total solids were high, 3.3 percent and 12 for elephantgrass fed animals and, 4.7 percent and 11.77 for guatemala-fed animals.