EVALUATION OF BREWERS’ DRIED GRAIN ON THE PERFORMANCE OF BUNAJI YEARLING BULLS RAISED UNDER INTENSIVE SYSTEM
EVALUATION OF BREWERS’ DRIED GRAIN ON THE PERFORMANCE OF BUNAJI YEARLING BULLS RAISED UNDER INTENSIVE SYSTEM
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Date
2016-04
Authors
YUSUF, Mustapha
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Abstract
Two (2) trials were conducted to determine the preference, short term intake, and performance of Bunaji yearling Bulls fed concentrate diets containing brewers‟ dried grain (BDG). In the first experiment, the chemical composition of Brewers‟ dried grain procured from three breweries namely Nigerian Brewery in Kaduna State, Benue Brewery Limited in Benue State, and Nigerian Brewery, Ibadan, Oyo State were analyzed. A Preference and short term intake trial was then conducted for seven (7) days using Six (6) Bunaji yearling bulls with an average weight of 150 kg. The bulls were fed 6 kg of brewer‟s dried grain from each source for two (2) hours daily in a cafeteria system. In the Second experiment, a growth trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding graded levels of brewer‟s dried grain on growth performance, apparent nutrient digestibility and nitrogen balance of Bunaji yearling bulls. A total of twenty five (25) Bunaji yearling bulls weighing 179 kg averagely were assigned to five diets containing 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40% inclusion levels of brewers‟ dried grain respectively in a completely randomized design. The trial lasted for 91 days. The animals were fed concentrate diets and hay at 1.5% and 2% of their body weight respectively. Rumen fluid was collected at 0, 3, 6 and 9hrs intervals to determine the rumen fluid pH, rumen ammonia nitrogen and rumen total volatile fatty acid of the bulls. Result from the preference and short term intake studies showed that the chemical composition of the BDGs‟ were similar irrespective of the source. It was observed that the animals preferred the BDG from Benue and Kaduna equally with a preference index of 0.99 while the BDG sourced from Ibadan was least preferred with a preference index of 0.65. The short term intake values (5.99 kg DM/2hrs) each for BDG from Kaduna and Benue were not significantly different (P>0.05) but differ significantly (P<0.05) from the value (3.92 kg DM/2hrs) recorded for BDG from Ibadan. The chemical composition of the diets showed that the dry matter content increased as the level of BDG increased in the diet up to 30% inclusion and
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then dropped slightly at 40% inclusion. The crude protein ranged from 15.38% to 16.18% and it increases as the level of brewers‟ dried grain increased in the diet while the ether extract reduced as the level of BDG increased in the diet. Average daily feed intake ranged from 6.04 to 6.47kg. There was significant difference in average weight gain recorded, the control had the lowest value (0.45 kg/day) and 30% BDG inclusion had the highest (0.61 kg/day). The effect of BDG on apparent nutrient digestibility and nitrogen balance revealed that dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM) and crude protein (CP) digestibility were significantly (P<0.05) affected by inclusion levels. The dry matter digestibility ranged from 54.23% to 58.93%. There was significant difference (P<0.05) in the digestibility of crude protein with the treatment having 30% inclusion of brewers dried grain recording the highest (56.46%) and the treatment with 0% inclusion recording the lowest (41.69%). The highest nitrogen intake was observed in 30% inclusion level of BDG and the lowest in the treatment with no BDG inclusion. Results of BDG inclusion on rumen metabolites showed that there were significant (P<0.05) differences between the pH of the treatments but they all fell within the range of 6.47-7.32 which are within the normal pH range reported for proper functioning of the rumen. Highest concentration of Rumen NH3-N and TVFA was observed at 3 hours post feeding. The cost of concentrate reduced as the level of BDG inclusion increased. Feed cost to gain ratio was least in the control (₦588.67/ Kg live weight gain) and highest in 30% BDG inclusion level (₦433.26/Kg live weight gain). The net benefits were ₦466.83, ₦5825.51, ₦3425.19, ₦9,237.17 and ₦3676.26 for feeding Bunaji yearling bulls on 0, 10, 20, 30 and 40% BDG diets respectively. It was concluded that BDG can be used to replace maize offal and cotton seed cake up to 30% for growing Bunaji bulls without any deleterious effect and can therefore be recommended to farmers for better production and profit margin.
Description
A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF POSTGRADUATE STUDIES, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF MASTER OF SCIENCE DEGREE IN ANIMAL SCIENCE. DEPARTMENT OF ANIMAL SCIENCE, FACULTY OF AGRICULTURE, AHMADU BELLO UNIVERSITY, ZARIA, NIGERIA.
Keywords
EVALUATION OF BREWERS, DRIED GRAIN, PERFORMANCE OF BUNAJI, YEARLING BULLS RAISED UNDER INTENSIVE SYSTEM