Performance of West African Dwarf goats fed maize offal diets supplemented with dry poultry excreta

Abstract

The nutritional quality of poultry excreta in replacement of maize offal was evaluated in 16 growing West African Dwarf (WAD) goats (eight females and eight males about eight months of age) with an average liveweight of 6.5 kg. The goats were allotted to four different diets containing 0% (T1, control treatment), 10% (T2), 20% (T3) and 30% (T4) poultry excreta in maize offal based diets. Each animal was fed its assigned diet ad libitum for 120 days. Feed intake, daily weight gain, feed conversion ratio and fat efficiency ratio were generally higher (p < 0.05) in diets including poultry excreta. The feed cost per kilogram, cost per kilogram of weight gain and cost of production were generally lower (P<0.05) with the inclusion of poultry excreta. The revenue, gross margin, return on investment and relative cost benefits were higher (p < 0.05) in diets that included poultry excreta and lowest in T1. The highest dress percentage was observed in T4 (p > 0.05). The leg, loin, rank, lean, shoulder, brisket cuts, fat and bone generally improved (p < 0.05) with the inclusion of poultry excreta in the diets. The bone:lean meat ratio increased similarly (p > 0.05) in all treatments, except in T3 where it was slightly higher. It is concluded that WAD goats could be sustained on poultry excreta as a component of formulated diets for increased performances in weight gain, feed conversion ratio, carcass yield, and increased economic benefits to farmers.