Project Abstract

Abstract
This study aimed to evaluate the performance of Red Sokoto goats fed inclusion levels of mixed Gmelina (Gmelina arborea) and Moringa (Moringa oleifera) leaf meal in Digitaria smutsii hay-based diets. Twenty-four Red Sokoto goats of average weight 10.5 ± 0.25 kg were randomly allocated to four dietary treatments with six goats per treatment in a completely randomized design. The dietary treatments included T1 (control, 100% Digitaria smutsii hay), T2 (90% Digitaria smutsii hay + 10% Gmelina leaf meal), T3 (90% Digitaria smutsii hay + 10% Moringa leaf meal), and T4 (45% Gmelina leaf meal + 45% Moringa leaf meal + 10% Digitaria smutsii hay). The experimental period lasted for 84 days, with the first 14 days for adaptation and the subsequent 70 days for data collection. Results showed that dry matter intake, average daily weight gain, and feed conversion efficiency were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in goats fed T4 compared to other dietary treatments. Goats in T4 exhibited higher final body weight and weight gain, indicating improved performance when compared to the control and other treatments. Furthermore, the digestibility of crude protein and neutral detergent fiber was significantly higher (p < 0.05) in T4 compared to other treatments. Goats fed T4 also had significantly higher (p < 0.05) nitrogen retention compared to the control and other treatments. However, there were no significant differences in the digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, ether extract, and acid detergent fiber among the dietary treatments. In conclusion, the inclusion of mixed Gmelina and Moringa leaf meal in Digitaria smutsii hay-based diets positively influenced the performance of Red Sokoto goats. The combination of Gmelina and Moringa leaf meal at a 45% inclusion level each with 10% Digitaria smutsii hay resulted in improved growth performance, nutrient utilization, and nitrogen retention in goats. Therefore, the study recommends the utilization of mixed Gmelina and Moringa leaf meal as potential supplements in goat feeding to enhance productivity and efficiency in small ruminant production systems.

Project Overview

.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