Nutrient Intake and Digestibility of Growing Yankasa Rams Fed Urea Treated and Untreated Sorghum Stover with Supplementation

Abstract

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the nutrient intake and digestibility of Yankasa rams fed urea-treated and untreated sorghum stover with supplementation. Twenty rams were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments in a Completely Randomized Design. Rams on treatments 1 and 2 received untreated sorghum stover, while those on treatments 3 and 4 were fed urea-treated sorghum stover. Treatments 1 and 3 were supplemented with cottonseed cake alone (CSC), while treatments 2 and 4 were supplemented with a mixture of cottonseed cake and maize bran (CSC + MB, 50:50). The experiment lasted for 63 days. Urea treatment increased the crude protein (CP) content of sorghum stover by 219.55% and decreased acid detergent fibre (ADF) by 17.72%. Significant (P < 0.05) differences were observed in nutrient intake and digestibility. Dry matter intake (DMI) was highest in treatment 1 (576.10g/day) and lowest in treatment 4 (513.64g/day). Crude protein digestibility (CPD) and acid detergent fibre digestibility (ADFD) were highest in treatment 3 (83.65% and 79.36%, respectively) and lowest in treatment 1 (55.57% and 54.16\%, respectively). Based on improved nutrient intake and digestibility parameters, urea-treated sorghum stover supplemented with cottonseed cake alone or in combination with maize bran (50:50) is recommended for growing Yankasa rams.