Performance of Growing and Fattening Yankasa Rams Fed Different Proportions of Urea-treated Rice Straw and Gamba Hay
Chapter One
Aim and objectives of the study
The study aimed to improve the nutritive value of rice straw through treatment
with urea for feeding small ruminants.
Specific objectives were:
- To determine the effect of feeding different proportions of urea treated rice straw and (Andropogon gayanus) gamba hay on feed intake and nutrient utilization by growing and fattening Yankasa rams.
- To determine the effect of feeding different proportions of urea treated rice straw and gamba hay on blood serum metabolites of growing and fattening Yankasa rams.
- To determine the effect of feeding different proportions of urea treated rice straw and gamba hay on rumen fluid metabolites of fattening Yankasa rams.
- To determine the economic benefit of fattening Yankasa rams fed different proportions of urea treated rice straw and gamba hay.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
Small ruminant production in the tropics
Small ruminant flock holding sizes are larger in the drier north than in the humid south (Francis, 1988). In South Eastern Nigeria, Francis (1988) reported that goats were more widely owned than sheep. Sheep were owned by 28% of the household contrary to 92% goats’ ownership. In South Western Nigeria, average flock size is in the range of 2-5 animals per owner with goats being also more common than sheep.
Small ruminant population and distribution in Nigeria
Nigeria is endowed with estimated 19.5 million cattle, 72.5 million goats, 41.3 million sheep, 7.1 million pigs, 278,840 camels, 145 million chickens, 11.6 million ducks, 2.1 million turkeys and 974,499 donkeys making the nation the topmost Livestock producer in West Africa (FMARD, 2016). According to Lombin (2007) the population of goats, sheep and cattle in Nigeria were estimated to be 40.8 million, 27 million and 16.3 million respectively. In terms of number, these population figures put Nigeria as the largest producer of livestock in the ECOWAS sub-region. FAO (2008) reported that Nigeria has large population of domestic ruminants in Africa consisting of 52,488,000 goats, 33,080,400 sheep and 16,152,700 cattle. The population of the major domestic animal species found in the semi-arid zone of west African region is said to have increased in the last 30 years (Ben, 2002).
CHAPTER THREE
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Location of the study
The study was conducted at the Livestock Farm of the Department of Agricultural Education, Sa’adatu Rimi College of Education, Kumbotso, Kano State, Nigeria. Kano lies on longitude 9°30′ and 12°30′ North and latitude 9°30’ and 8°42′ East on an elevation of 468m. It has a mean daily temperature range of 30°C to 33°C and annual rainfall ranges between 787 and 960 mm (KNARDA, 2001). Kano is characterized by wet and dry climate, a wet season (May-September) and dry season October-April (Olofin, 1987
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS
Chemical composition of feed ingredients (Experiments 1 and 2)
Table 4.1 presents the chemical composition of untreated rice straw, proportions of urean treated rice straw and gamba hay and concentrate mixtures used in Experiments 1 and 2. The results showed that urea treatment of rice straw increased crude protein content fromnn 3.64 % in untreated rice straw to 8.89 % in rice straw treated with urea. As a result of urea treatment, the NDF content was reduced to 67.98 % from 72.16 %. Similarly, the ADF and ADL contents of untreated rice straw were reduced from 43 % and 11.23 % in untreated rice straw to 41.35 % and 8.57 % respectively in urea treated rice straw. Crude protein content of 2.69 % was obtained for gamba hay (0:60 UTRS:gamba hay). The NDF, ADF and ADL contents of gamba hay recorded were 79.59, 38.56 and 10.78 %, respectively. Crude protein contents of 4.75 and 6.83 % were obtained for 20:40 UTRS:gamba hay and 40:20 UTRS:gamba hay respectively. The NDF, ADF and ADL
content obtained for 20:40
CHAPTER FIVE
DISCUSSIONS
Chemical composition of experimental feeds (Experiments 1 and 2
The chemical composition of untreated rice straw, proportions of urea treated rice straw and gamba hay and concentrate mixtures for experiments 1 and 2 (Table 4.1) indicated that urea treatment increased the crude protein content of the rice straw from 3.64 % untreated rice straw to 8.89 % after treatment with urea. This result is in agreement with the findings of Puri and Gupta (2001) who reported that crude protein content of rice straw increased from 3.40 % in untreated to 8.04% in urea treated straw. Several authors have also reported increases in crude protein content of cereal straws as a result of urea treatment (Jackson, 1977; Saadullah et al., 1981; Promma et al., 1994 and Chetna Bhatt et al., 2004). The increase in crude protein content of treated rice straw is associated with the conversion of urea into ammonia during treatment period, part of which may have been organically bound with treated straw (Chetna Bhatt et al., 2004). The reduction in NDF content of urea treated rice straw from 72.16 to 67.98 % observed in this study was comparable to earlier reports (Singh et al., 2001; Chetna Bhatt et al, 2004 and Midau et al., 2015). The decrease in NDF content was due to solubilization of hemicelluloses content during treatment of straw and its subsequent removal from cell wall constituents
(Givens et al., 1988 and Chetna Bhatt et al., 2004). The observed decrease in ADL content by urea treatment could be ascribed to the breakdown of lignocellulose ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH) formation in the stack during treatment as ascertained by Punj et al. (1977).
CHAPTER SIX
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Conclusions
- Crude protein content increased from 3.64 in untreated rice straw to 8.89 % in urea treated rice straw while the NDF decreased from 72.16 to 67.98 % as a result of urea treatment.
- Dry matter intake in growing and fattening rams fed diets containing 60:0 and 40:20 urea treated rice straw:gamba hay was significantly higher than those on 20:40 and 0:60 urea treated rice straw:gamba hay diets.
- Daily weight gain was significantly higher in growing and fattening rams fed 60:0 and urea treated rice straw:gamba hay diets compared to those fed 20:40 and 0:60 urea treated rice straw:gamba hay diets.
- Digestibility coefficients of DM, OM, CP, NDF and ADF were significantly increased in diets containing urea treated rice straw.
- Bloodserum and rumen fluid metabolites were within the normal physiological ranges for sheep.
- Cost of feed consumed per kg body weight gain was lower and better in fattening rams fed diets with 60:0 and 40:20 urea treated rice straw:gamba hay proportion.
Recommendations
The study recommends as follows:
- Urea treated rice straw could be used to replace gamba hay as a roughage source for sheep feeding as sheep had higher weight gain in the urea treated rice straw based diets compared to gamba hay based diet.
- Small-holder farmers may adopt the treatment of rice straw with urea to improve its nutritive value and reduce the cost of feed per kg body weight gain.
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