NUTRITIONAL QUALITY AND UTILIZATION OF WATER HYACINTH -CASSAVA PEELS SILAGE BY WEST AFRICAN DWARF (WAD) GOATS

Abstract

Twenty West African Dwarf goats aged between 1-1.5 years and balanced for sex, weighingbetween 11kg–12kg were fed variable levels of Water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) incassava peels silage. The aim was to investigate the nutritional value and utilization of waterhyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) in cassava peels silage. A completely randomized design withfive treatments and four replicates was used as water hyacinth replaced cassava peels at 0%(control), 15%, 30%, 45% and 60% in the formulated diets designated as WH0, WH15,WH30, WH45 and WH60 respectively with 20% Panicum maximum and 20% sundriedpoultry droppings added to make up complete diets. At the end of the study; the observed drymatter intake, crude protein intake and average live weight gain values were significantly(P<0.05) different and were influenced by the treatment diets. The best performance indiceswere seen in the goats fed treatment (WH0) at significant (P<0.05) levels while goats fedtreatment WH15 compared favourably with the control. Goats fed higher water hyacinth levelsin WH30, WH45 and WH60 presented relatively lower performance indices. Hence 15%water hyacinth inclusion (WH15) in West African Dwarf goat’s diet would be a good sourceof nutrient and a valuable alternative feedstuff for ruminant animals during the dry seasonsand food scarcity periods.