Chemical Composition, Fibre Fraction and Anti-Nutritional Substances of Semi-arid Browse Forages of North-Eastern Nigeria

The nutritive value of leaves from eight different browse trees and shrubs were analyzed. They include Ficus polita, Ficus thonningii, Batryospermum paradoxum, Kigalia africana, Celtis integuifolis, Khaya senegalensis, Leptadenia lancifolia, and Ziziphus abyssinica. were collected from Gwoza, in Borno, State, Nigeria. The browse samples were analyzed for chemical composition, fibre fractions and anti-nutritive components of their leaves. Results showed no significant differences (P>0.05) in the DM content, which ranged from 95.2 to 97.0%. Leptadenia lancifolia, Ficus thonningi and Ficus polita recorded higher CP content which was significantly higher (

Effects of Cotton Seed Cake and Dry Poultry Litter Supplementation on Performance of Grazing Sheep in the Sahelian Zone of Nigeria

Twelve Yankasa male sheep aged 12 - 18 months with a mean live weight of 29 ± 1.04 kg were used to determine the effects of supplementing cotton seed cake (CSC) (DPL) and dry poultry litter on performance and growth rate. The design was 3 × 4 latin square. The mean dry matter intake (DMI) were 1.22 and 1.26 kg/day for T1 (CSC) and T2 (DPL) respectively. There was significant difference between the supplemented groups and the control group. The dry matter digestibility (DMD) data were 68.5, 69.9 and 54.4% for T1(CSC), T2(DPL) and T3(Control) respectively. There was a significant difference between the supplemented groups and the control group. The corresponding live weight changes were 13.0, 15.37 and 6.60 g/day. Animalsfed with dry poultry litter (DPL) showed a significantly higher daily live weigh gain. Result of nitrogen intake, nitrogen in faeces, and nitrogen in urine were 29.9, 30.1 and 15.1; 15.5, 13.1 and 7.1 and 3.7, 6.7 and 4.7 for T1(CSC), T2(DPL) and T3(Control) respectively. The result showed that poultry litter could substitute cottonseed cake as source of Nitrogen for rumen microbes with a resultant increase in live weight

Determining Dry Matter Degradability of Some Semi-Arid Browse Species of North- Eastern Nigeria Using the In Vitro Technique

The in vitro gas production of some semi-arid browse species were evaluated. The relationship between in vitro gas measured on incubation of tannin-containing browses in buffered rumen fluid and calculated from short chain fatty acid (SCFA) production was investigated. Crude protein (CP) contents in the browses ranged from 13.85 to 16.65% dry matter (DM). The NDF, ADF and ADL were 37.30 to 51.20, 16.20 to 41.90 and 4.90 to 12.70 g/100g DM respectively. Total condensed tannin (TCT) ranged from 0.15 to 0.39 mg/g DM. The TCT was significantly correlated with gas production (r = 0.99; P < 0.05). A good relationship (R2 = 0.99; P< 0.05) was observed between the measured in vitro gas production and that calculated from SCFA. The relationship between in vitro gas measured on incubation of browse leaves and that calculated from SCFA allows the prediction of SCFA from gas production. The study showed that the leaves of the browse forages had reasonable nutritive value and thus, may serve as potential supplement for ruminants in Nigeria

Growth performance and apparent nutrient digestibility of weanling rabbits fed graded levels of molasses

No Abstract.Global Journal of Agricultural Sciences Vol. 6 (1) 2007: pp.21-2

Haematological parameters and carcass characteristics of wanling rabbits fed graded levels of molasses

No Abstract.Global Journal of Agricultural Sciences Vol. 5 (2) 2006: pp. 167-17

Scholars Journal of Agriculture and Veterinary Sciences Testicular Morphometry of Red Sokoto Bucks Fed Cotton Seed Cake

Abstract: An experiment was conducted to determine the effect of cotton seed cake inclusion on testicular morphometry of Red Sokoto bucks. Sixteen sexually matured Red Sokoto bucks were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments with four animals per treatment. Treatment compared were T1 = 0% cotton seed cake (CSC), T2 = 10% CSC, T 3 = 20% and T4 = 30% CSC respectively. The results of chemical composition show that the crude protein (CP) content was generally high in all the diets. The ash, ether extract (EE), neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and gross energy values (GE) were all highest in T3. The extra gonadal sperm reserve showed significant difference (p&lt;0.05) in all the parameters observed except for left caput epididymides and right caudal epididymides. Testicular morphometry showed significant effect (p&lt;0.05) in all the parameters observed. Results indicate that 10 and 20% levels of CSC inclusion do not have any negative effect on testicular morphometry of Red Sokoto buck

Health systems readiness and quality of inpatient malaria case-management in Kano State, Nigeria

Background Nigeria was among the first African countries to adopt and implement change of treatment policy for severe malaria from quinine to artesunate. Seven years after the policy change health systems readiness and quality of inpatient malaria case-management practices were evaluated in Kano State of Nigeria. Methods A cross-sectional survey was undertaken in May 2019 at all public hospitals. Data collection comprised hospital assessments, interviews with inpatient health workers and data extraction from medical files for all suspected malaria patients admitted to the paediatric and medical wards in April 2019. Descriptive analyses included 22 hospitals, 154 health workers and 1,807 suspected malaria admissions analysed from malaria test and treat case-management perspective. Results 73% of hospitals provided malaria microscopy, 27% had rapid diagnostic tests and 23% were unable to perform any parasitological malaria diagnosis. Artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) was available at 96% of hospitals, artemether vials at 68% while injectable quinine and artesunate were equally stocked at 59% of hospitals. 32%, 21% and 15% of health workers had been exposed to relevant trainings, guidelines and supervision respectively. 47% of suspected malaria patients were tested while repeat testing was rare (7%). 60% of confirmed severe malaria patients were prescribed artesunate. Only 4% of admitted non-severe test positive cases were treated with ACT, while 76% of test negative patients were prescribed an anti-malarial. Artemether was the most common anti-malarial treatment for non-severe test positive (55%), test negative (43%) and patients not tested for malaria (45%). In all categories of the patients, except for confirmed severe cases, artemether was more commonly prescribed for adults compared to children. 44% of artesunate-treated patients were prescribed ACT follow-on treatment. Overall compliance with test and treat policy for malaria was 13%. Conclusions Translation of new treatment policy for severe malaria into inpatient practice is compromised by lack of malaria diagnostics, stock-outs of artesunate and suboptimal health workers’ practices. Establishment of the effective supply chain and on-going supportive interventions for health workers accompanied with regular monitoring of the systems readiness and clinical practices are urgently needed.</p