Volume 10, Issue 3: 76-84; May 27, 2020
ISSN 2228-7701
EFFECT OF PELLETED BROWSE-BASED FEED WITH A BASAL DIET OF
Andropogon gayanus FOR SHEEP ON INTAKE, NUTRIENT DIGESTIBILITY
AND SOME HAEMATOLOGICAL AND BLOOD BIOCHEMICAL PARAMETERS
Leonard ADJORLOLO1, Mark NSOH2, Akwasi MENSAH-BONSU3 and Frederick OBESE2
1Livestock and Poultry Research Centre, School of Agriculture, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana
2Department of Animal Science, School of Agriculture, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana
3Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness, School of Agriculture, University of Ghana, Legon, Ghana
Email: fobese@ug.edu.gh;
Supporting Information
ABSTRACT: The study was designed to evaluate the nutritional quality of pelleted diets based on four of the major
feed resources fed to small ruminants by farmers in the Accra Plains. Leaves of Samanea saman, Acacia
auriculiformis and Ficus exasperata and cassava peels were dried, mixed with other ingredients and pelleted. A
preference trial showed sheep accepted all the four supplements with a marked preference for cassava peels-
based (CP-B) and Samanea saman-based (SL-B) supplements compared with Acacia auriculiformis-based (AL-B)
and Ficus exasperata-based (FL-B) supplements (P<0.05). The supplements were subsequently fed to Eight West
African Dwarf sheep on a basal diet of Andropogon gayanus (Gamba grass) hay in Latin square design. Dry
matter intakes (DMI) did not differ by the type of supplement (P>0.05). However, crude protein intake (CPI) was
higher (P<0.05) in sheep fed AL-B and FL-B than those fed SL-B and CP-B. Dry matter and neutral detergent fibre
(NDF) digestibility were lowest (P<0.05) for sheep fed CP-B. Dietary treatments did not affect haematological
parameters, except for neutrophil percentage which was higher (P<0.05) in sheep fed CP-B than those fed SL-B.
Animals fed CP-B had the lowest monocyte concentrations (P<0.05). Furthermore, all the serum biochemical
parameters were not affected by dietary treatment except total protein concentration which was highest
(P<0.05) in sheep fed on AL-B. It is concluded that the feed resources available to the small ruminant keepers
can be used to prepare pelleted supplements that are acceptable to sheep and help sustain appreciable
performance on low quality forages during the dry season without any deleterious effects on intake, digestibility,
physiology and health.
Keywords: Acceptability, Browse plants, Dry season, Accra Plains, Blood parameters, Feed intake
Abbreviations: AL-B: Acacia auriculiformis-based supplement; ADF: Acid detergent fibre; ADFD: Acid detergent fibre digestibility; ADFI: Acid
detergent fibre intake; ANOVA: Analysis of variance; AOAC: Association of Official Analytical chemists; CP: crude protein; CPD: crude protein
digestibility: CPI: crude protein intake; CP-B: cassava peel-based supplement; DM: dry matter; DMD: dry matter digestibility; DMI: dry matter
intake; FCE: feed conversion efficiency; FL-B: Ficus exasperata-based supplement; LIPREC: Livestock and Poultry Research Centre; MCV: mean
corpuscular volume; MCH: mean corpuscular hydrogen; MCHC: mean corpuscular hydrogen concentration; NDF: Neutral detergent fibre; NDFD:
neutral detergent fibre digestibility; NDFI: neutral detergent fibre intake OM: organic matter: OMD: organic matter digestibility; OMI: organic
matter intake; PCV: packed cell volume; RBC: red blood cell; SEM: standard error of mean; SL-B: Samanea saman-based supplement; T.
Cholesterol: total cholesterol; WAD: West African Dwarf; WBC: white blood cell
INTRODUCTION
In the savannah areas of West Africa, where most livestock in the sub region are kept, the dry seasons are much longer
than in the humid areas and are characterised by declines in forage availability and quality. For both cultivated pastures
dry season. Other studies have indicated significant decreases in forage quality during the dry season. Even for forage
legumes, decreases in crude protein content to as low as 5-7% (Peters et al., 1997) and increases in neutral detergent
fibre (Fujihara et al., 2004) during the dry season have been reported. Supplementation, either to increase the dry matter
intake or to increase crude protein intake is often necessary for maintenance and possibly production. The use of fodder
tree and shrub leaves as supplement is widely practiced by farmers in Ghana. However, during the late dry season, many
trees shed their leaves and availability of tree leaves decline. Many small ruminant keepers resort to buying agro-
industrial by-products such as wheat bran, rice bran and cassava peels from processing facilities for supplementary
feeding.
An earlier study (Nsoh, 2019) identified feed resources commonly used by small ruminant keepers in the Accra
Plains. This study sought to use four of the most important feed resources identified to develop pelleted multi-nutrient
feed supplements with long shelf life, which can be stored and fed anytime during the year. It therefore assessed the
effects of supplementary feed packages based on three browses and cassava peels on intake, metabolism and
physiology of the West African Dwarf sheep.
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To cite this paper: Adjorlolo L, Nsoh M, Mensah-Bonsu A and Obese F (2020). Effect of pelleted browse-based feed with a basal diet of Andropogon gayanus for sheep
on intake, nutrient digestibility and some haematological and blood biochemical parameters. Online J. Anim. Feed Res., 10 (3): 76-84. DOI: