Project Abstract

Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the performance of Red Sokoto goats fed different inclusion levels of mixed Gmelina arborea and Moringa oleifera leaf meal in Digitaria smutsii hay-based diets. A total of 24 Red Sokoto goats were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments in a completely randomized design. The control diet contained Digitaria smutsii hay only, while the other three diets contained 10%, 20%, and 30% mixed Gmelina arborea and Moringa oleifera leaf meal, respectively. The goats were fed the experimental diets for 84 days, and data on feed intake, nutrient digestibility, growth performance, and blood parameters were collected. Results showed that goats fed diets containing mixed Gmelina arborea and Moringa oleifera leaf meal had higher dry matter intake, crude protein intake, and organic matter intake compared to those on the control diet. Digestibility of nutrients was also improved with increasing levels of mixed leaf meal in the diets. Goats fed diets with 20% and 30% leaf meal had significantly higher average daily weight gain compared to the control group. Blood parameters indicated no adverse effects on the health status of the goats across all dietary treatments. In conclusion, the inclusion of mixed Gmelina arborea and Moringa oleifera leaf meal in Digitaria smutsii hay-based diets positively influenced the performance of Red Sokoto goats. A level of 20% mixed leaf meal in the diet resulted in the best growth performance in terms of average daily weight gain. Therefore, supplementing Digitaria smutsii hay with mixed leaf meal could be a viable strategy to improve the productivity of goats, particularly in areas where quality forage availability is limited. Further research is recommended to explore optimal inclusion levels and assess the economic feasibility of utilizing mixed leaf meal in goat diets.

Project Overview

1.0 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the Study

Ruminant livestock have a unique digestive system that allows them to use energy from fibrous plants materials better than other herbivores. Their digestive system is designed to ferment feedstuffs and provide precursors for energy for the animal to use (Parish et al., 2009). Forages play an important role in ruminant animal nutrition. Ruminants are able to ruminate or regurgitate ingested high forage diets to reduce particle size for improving their digestibility (Ranjbar, 2007; Parish et al., 2009). However, inadequate supply of all year round quality forage is a major constraint to livestock production in the tropics (Ajayi et al., 2005; Ogunbosoye and Babayemi, 2010a). Most available ruminant feeds/feedstuffs during
the dry season are poor in nutrients which deteriorate rapidly with increasing fibre and decreasing protein (Babayemi, 2007).

Sources of cheaper alternative forages of high quality for ruminants have been a subject of research in recent years (Alan et al., 2013) especially for farmers in the tropics. Browse plants have great potential as source of high quality nutrient for ruminants, being high in protein, minerals and Vitamins (Babayemi et al., 2003). They are available all year round
because of their drought resistance, persistence, vigorous growth, re-growth and palatability (Reynolds and Atta-Krah, 2006). The use of browse plants as supplement have been shown to enhance intake, improve growth rate and increase reproduction in ruminants (Osakwe and Udeogu, 2007; Lamidi et al., 2009; Okafor et al., 2012). However, most of these forage trees have not been widely used because they often contain anti-nutritional compounds that have deleterious effects on animal performance (Ghosh et al., 2007).

Moringa oleifera Lamarck which originated from India is widely distributed and has become naturalized in many locations in the tropics (Fahey, 2005). It is a non-leguminous multipurpose tree and one of the fastest growing trees of the world. Moringa is one of the promising plants which could contribute to increased intake of some essential nutrients and
health-promoting phytochemicals (Alikwe and Omotosho, 2013; Nweze and Nwafor (2014). It has a high crude protein content ranging from 20-26% CP in leaves (Kakengi et al., 2005; Ben Salem et al., 2004; Asaolu et al., 2011) with negligible contents of anti- nutrients (Makkar and Becker, 1996). Moringa has been reported for its unique nutrient profile (Ofoh et al., 2011). Moringa can grow up to 12m in height at maturity, with a yield
up to 120 t/ha/yr when it is densely planted for use as forage crop (Makkar and Becker, 1996).

Gmelina arborea Roxb. (Family verbenanceae) is a fast growing deciduous tree that can grow up to 40 m tall and 140 cm in diameter (Jensen, 1995). Even though Gmelina arborea can shed some of its leaves when the dry season is approaching, the regrowth of new leaves could serve as animal feed during this period. The leaves are high in nutrient. Previous records (Okafor et al., 2012; Osakwe and Udeogu, 2007; Ahamefule et al., 2006) have shown that the leaves contain as much as 10.01-38.4% crude protein and 3.10-30.46 % crude fibre with low level of anti nutritional compounds