Dry Matter Intake and Digestibility in Weast African Dwarf Goats Fed Raw or Processed Pigeon Pea (<i>Cajanus Cajan<i>) Seed

Abstract

Four West African Dwarf (WAD) grower bucks averaging 6 kg in weight and aged between 5-6 months of age were used in a digestive trial to determine the intake and digestibility of raw or processed pigeon pea seed meal based diets. The diets designated RPBD, SPBD, TPBD and BPBD were formulated from cassava peel, palm kernel cake, brewers dry grain, bone meal and common salt to contain 15% of raw, boiled, soaked or toasted pigeon pea seed meal, respectively. The diets were allotted to the 4 animals in a 4×4 latin square design. Results showed that feed and dry matter intake (DMI) (g/d) were influenced (P<0.05) by dietary treatments. The values were highest for BPBD followed by RPBD, SPBD and TPBD in that order. The feed and DMI of BPBD differed (P<0.05) significantly from values obtained for TPBD but similar with those of other diets. Nitrogen intake (g/d) of goats fed BPBD (7.49), RPBD (7.16) and SPBD (6.36) were similar (P>0.05); however, there was a significant difference (P<0.05) in nitrogen intake between goats fed BPBD and TPBD (5.90). Fecal nitrogen (g/d) values were fairly comparable (P>0.05) but urinary nitrogen (g/d) values were affected (P<0.05) by treatments; the value was highest in goats fed RPBD (1.32) which differed (P<0.05) from goats fed TPBD (0.76), SPBD (0.41) and BPBD (0.39). Nitrogen balance and nitrogen absorbed were also influenced (P<0.05) by dietary treatments; the values for goats fed BPBD (6.09, 6.48) differed significantly from values obtained for those fed TPBD (3.72 and 4.48) but similar with values obtained for RPBD (3.92 and 5.24) and SPBD (4.45 and 4.86).