Body Weight Prediction in Nigeria Goats using Body Measurements of Different Age, Sex and Breeds

Data collected from 900 goats sampled from Borno, Sokoto and Ogun States from three different breeds on the following metric characters: Body Weight (BW), Age, Horn Length (HL), Ear length (EL), Shoulder width (SW), Neck circumference (NC), body length (BL), Withers Height (WH), Heart Girth (HG), Pouch Girth (PG), Tail Length (TL) and Scrotal circumference (SC) were subjected to stepwise multiple linear regression. Results obtained showed Live weight changes with body measurements were poorly to highly predictable with R2 values ranging between 0.000 - 0.031 in animals < 1 year old, 0.000-0.241in animals 1-2 years and 0.000-0.658 in animals 2 years and above. It was thus concluded that the low, moderate and high predictive power obtained from this study might be due to instability of regression coefficient at different ages and points also to decreasing environmental impact on growth with increase in age

Milk yield and composition of West African dwarf (wad) goats fed palm kernel cake supplement for conventional concentrate

The effect of replacement of conventional Concentrate (CC) supplement with Palm Kernel Cake (PKC) on the milk composition and yield of West African Dwarf (WAD) dams fed Pennisetum purpureum silage (grass) basal ration was investigated. Twenty five lactating WAD dams of average weight of 13kg ± 0.2 were randomly assigned into five dietary treatments in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) layout. Each treatment group consists of five replicates of lactating dam. Dams were individually housed and offered silage freely with 400g of one of the five supplement treatments (T) per day ( viz: C/PKC: T1 – T5); T1: 100/0; T2: 75/25; T3: 50/50; T4: 25/75 and T5: 0/100). The replacement of CC by PKC had significant (p<0.05) effect on the average milk yield, percentage (%) fat, protein, specific gravity, ash and fat corrected milk (FCM) but showed no significant (p>0.05) effect on the total solid (TS%) of the milk of the treatments. Based on this result it can be concluded that the proportionate combinations of CC and PKC as supplement to Pennisetum purpureum (grass) silage rations of WAD goats during lactation will improve the milk yield and the composition without adverse effect. However, at 50% replacement of CC by PKC (50/50) the milk yield is enhanced while the fat and protein components were improved at 100% replacement of CC by PKC. &nbsp

Principal component and stepwise discriminant analysis of the morphometric traits of three dual-purpose breeds of chicken

Using the principal component procedure of SAS, 10 variables; body weight (BW), body length (BL), breast girth (BG), shank length (SL), thigh length (TL), comb length (CL), comb height (CH), wing length (WL), wattle length (WAL) and wattle thickness (WT) obtained from three dual-purpose chicken breeds (Shika, Kuroiler, and Sasso), variables were separated. Similarly, stepwise discriminant analsis procedure of the SAS software was employed to evaluate variables that contribute to the overall differences in breeds. Results showed three principal components (PC1, PC2 and PC3) were extracted for all the breeds and pooled data. 45.60% of total variance was accounted for by PC1, 28.17% by PC2 and 16.22% by PC3. The principal components partitioning of total variance were 50.80, 15.10 and 9.70%, 50.82, 19.90 and 14.90%, and 48.63, 14.00 and 12.67% for Shika, Kuroiler, and Sasso breeds respectively, with different factor loadings. Communalities ranged from 0.43-0.97, 0.45-0.83, 0.45-0.88 and 0.45-0.90, indicating that a good amount of variance was accounted for. Stepwise discriminant analysis indicated that seven morphometric traits, TL, SL, WAL, WL, CL, CH and BL, contributed significantly (P<0.001) to the separation of the birds into breeds. TL and SL, however, indicated higher discriminating power compared to others. The principal component analysis allowed for better understanding of the complex correlations among traits and reduced the number of traits along with high communalities, using only PC1, PC2 and PC3the first three PCs, without loss of information. Summary of stepwise discriminant analysis shows that lengthwise measures of long bones of the body of chickens, such as thigh and shank, are viable metrics for phenotypic differentiation of birds in the studied population.Keywords: Principal Component, Stepwise discriminant Analysis, Morphometric traits, chicken

Incidence, Diagnosis and Treatment of Atresia Ani at Landmark University

Atresia ani has become a major clinical disease in Livestock especially pigs, cattle and small ruminants. It is a condition which do not often occur but requires a dogged approach in treating affected animals. Atresia ani is a congenital embryological condition that often suffice when the hindgut refuses to connect with the perineum for the proper discharge of muconium. In this study, a three-day-old calf was observed to be suffering from Atresia ani at the Landmark University Teaching and Research farm. This condition was obvious due to the inability of the calf to pass out faeces since parturition. The calf was operated on using standard clinical and surgical practices and also putting into consideration the Animal Welfare principles. The result from the surgical procedure showed that there was a massive improvement in defecation and general performance of the calf after the third day. Furthermore, there was no complication reported in the calf after fifteen days (15) of the procedure. This result shows that Atresia ani can be properly managed at the Landmark University Teaching and Research farm. This affirms the ability of the Institution to promote standard practices in Livestock Production Management

INFLUENCE OF GRADED LEVELS OF INSTANT NOODLE WASTE IN THE DIETS ON THE PERFORMANCE, CARCASS TRAITS AND HAEMATOLOGY OF BROILER CHICKENS

An eight week feeding trial was conducted to assess the replacement value of instant noodle waste meal (INW) on the performance characteristic, carcass and haematological parameters of broiler chickens. Ninety, one-day old Anak 2000 chicks were randomly allocated to three treatment groups namely, diet 1 (0% INW), diet 2 (50% INW) and diet 3 (100% INW) in a completely randomized design (CRD). Each treatment group had three replicates of ten chicks each. The inclusion of instant noodle in the diet did not have significant (P>0.05) effect on the performance of the broiler chickens at both starter and finisher phases. The inclusion of instant noodle waste had no significant (P>0.05) effect on the carcass traits and organ weights in broiler chickens. No significant (P>0.05) effect was observed for the packed cell volume, hematocrit, haemoglobin, leucocytes, and mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration among the treatments. However, mean corpuscular volume and mean corpuscular haemoglobin were significantly (P< 0.05) influenced by the instant noodles inclusion, in the diets. Based on the present results INW could replace maize fraction of the diet partially or wholly without any adverse effect on performance, carcass and health status of broiler chickens

Performance and blood profile of Noiler chickens fed diets containing graded Level of parkia biglobosa leaf meal

A study was undertaken for 56 days to determine the growth performance and blood profile of Noiler chicks fed diets with different levels of Parkia biglobosa leaf meal (PBLM) as a partial replacement of soya bean meal (SBM). A total of ninety-six unsexed Noiler day-old chicks were allotted into four dietary groups of 24 chicks with three replicates of eight per group based on weight equalization using a Completely Randomized experimental design. Group 1 containing 0% PBLM (control), groups 2 to 4 had SBM replaced at 5% 10% and 15% in their diets respectively. Data were collected on feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion ratio, feed cost reduction, haematological and serum indices. Results showed that PBLM had an effect (p 0.05) on the protein and albumin values. The result of this study, therefore, suggested that soya bean meal in Noiler chick diets can be replaced by up to 10% of PBLM without harmful effects on the growth and blood profile

CARCASS INDICES AND MEAT QUALITY OF BROILER CHICKENS FED DIETS CONTAINING FORTIFIED FERMENTED CASSAVA STUMPz

This study investigated the nutritional and anti-nutritional components of non-fermented and microbe fermented cassava stumps using Aspergillus niger (ATCC 16404) strain in a solid substrate. The dried and milled cassava stumps were aseptically inoculated with Aspergillus niger (ATCC 16404) strain in a solid-state at substrates to water ratio 1.0:1.0 w/v and then incubated for 192 hours at room temperature. Samples were taken at 48 h interval for the proximate, minerals and anti-nutrients composition determination of the fermented cassava stumps. The experimental design employed was completely Randomized Design. The results showed that the fermentation media and the fermentation period significantly (P < 0.05) affected the nutritional and anti-nutritional components of the cassava stumps, as there was better enhancement of the by-product at higher fermentation period. The highest crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), ash, and lowest crude fiber (CF) in fermented cassava stumps were obtained at 192 hours of fermentation with the following values CP 7.45%, EE 9.81% and ash 7.01%. A similar trend was also observed for mineral enhancement and anti-nutrient degradation. Conclusively, this study showed that solid-state fermentation using Aspergillus niger (ATCC 16404) strain can effectively enhance the nutritive value of cassava stumps which can help increase the feed resources for non-ruminant animals

Enhancement of Nutritive Value of Cassava Stumps by Aspergillus niger ATCC 16404 in Solid State

This study investigated the nutritional and anti-nutritional components of non-fermented and microbe fer mented cassava stumps using Aspergillus niger (ATCC 16404) strain in a solid substrate. The dried and milled cassava stumps were aseptically inoculated with Aspergillus niger (ATCC 16404) strain in a solid-state at substrates to water ratio 1.0:1.0 w/v and then incubated for 192 hours at room temperature. Samples were taken at 48 h interval for the proximate, minerals and anti-nutrients composition determination of the fermented cassava stumps. The experimen tal design employed was completely Randomized Design. The results showed that the fermentation media and the fermentation period significantly (P < 0.05) affected the nutritional and anti-nutritional components of the cassava stumps, as there was better enhancement of the by-product at higher fermentation period. The highest crude protein (CP), ether extract (EE), ash, and lowest crude fiber (CF) in fermented cassava stumps were obtained at 192 hours of fermentation with the following values CP 7.45%, EE 9.81% and ash 7.01%. A similar trend was also observed for mineral enhancement and anti-nutrient degradation. Conclusively, this study showed that solid-state fermentation using Aspergillus niger (ATCC 16404) strain can effectively enhance the nutritive value of cassava stumps which can help increase the feed resources for non-ruminant animals