ABSTRACT

The effect of forage to concentrate ratios on the peiformance of West African Dwarf (WAD) goats was studied at the Livestock Unit of the Federal University of Agriculture, Umudike for 56 days to determine the optimum combination of forage to concentrate ratio that best support the growth of goat. Twelve WAD goats comprising eight castrated bucks and four does aged between 4 -6 months and weighing between 4.0kg to 8.0kg with an average weight of 6.17kg were used for the study. The goats were randomly divided into four treatment groups which were 100:OFC; 80:2OFC; 60:4OFC and 40:6OFC, based on their body weights and sex, with three replicates in a completely randomised design. Feed and water were provided once daily at 9.00am. The feed were offered according to the ratio of treatment at 3% per cent of their body weight diy matter of the forage and concentrate and the feed intake for both the forage and concentrate were measured by difference each morning before new feed were offered. Digestibility studies was carried out at the end of feeding trials using four bucks which were randomly selected from each treatments. The results obtained indicated that there were no significant difference (P>0.05) in body weight, average daily gain (ADG), feed conversion ratio (FCR), concentrate intake and total feed intake. The body weight, ADG, FCR, concentrate intake and total feed intake values ranged from 7.25kg to 8.80kg ± 0.98kg, 22.2kg to 50.Og ± 6.48g; 18.36 to 42.6 ± 9.93; 188.87g to 367.21g ± 43.65g and 645.51g tolol4.33g ± 103.52g respectively. The forage intake varied significantly (P>0.05) between the treatments with the value decreasing as the amount of concentrate increased. The forage intake ranged from 287. 3 ig to 1014.33g ± 79.37g. The digestibility studies shows that there were significant difference (P0.05) from that of treatment C. The low growth rates of goats on 60 percent concentrate indicated that it is wasteful supplementing the diet of WAD goats at a rate above 40 percent while the moderate growth rate of goats on forage alone which is almost the same as those on 40 percent concentrate supplementation indicates that WAD goats can be maintained on good quality pasture. The high growth rate of goats on 20 percent concentrate supplementation showed that WAD goats can increase their efficiency on gain at this low concentrate supplementation which is economical both to the farmer and society.