Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB)
Doi
Abstract
The growth and faecal egg count response of village managed goats to wilted and sun-dried cassava foliage was evaluated in a 8-week experiment. Twenty-four goats of the West African dwarf breed with age ranging from 6 to 8months and average weight of 8.25kg were selected from the farmers herd and randomly allotted to three treatment groups according to receive wilted cassava foliage (WCF), sun-dried cassava foliage (SCF) and albendazole (control). The results showed that weight gain differed significantly (P < 0.05) among treatments (31.61 to 44.29g/day) with best (P < 0.05) growth rate observed in goats supplemented with WCF. All treatments reduced worm egg count with a reduction of 65.67 %, 67.13% and 69.96% in goats, supplemented with SCF, WCF and albendazole, respectively. In addition, faecal egg count (FEC) was low in all treatments after 4 week post treatment and remained low (FEC<465) in the goats till the end of the experiment. This study concluded that supplementing grazing goats with WCF was best in reducing faecal egg count and improving growth rate in goats, which could serve as a natural low-cost deworming agent in village managed goats.Â
