Physical, fermentative, and nutritional quality of silages made from three Sorghum bicolor varieties as affected by ensiling duration in South-west Nigeria.

Despite large-scale sorghum production in Nigeria, its utilization as livestock feed is limited to the stover following grain harvest. Therefore, we evaluated the physical, fermentative, and nutritive quality of whole-crop silages from three Sorghum bicolor varieties at different ensiling durations. The experiment was 3×5 factorial comprising three varieties (Samsorg14, Samsorg17, and Samsorg41) and five ensiling durations (0, 4, 8, 12, and 16 weeks). Forages were ensiled at the dough stage, and the silos were opened at the pre-determined durations for quality analyses. Samsorg14 silage recorded higher pH (5.88) and significant titratable acidity (8.32 g kg-1), while the least pH was observed for Samsorg17 silage (4.63). The forages ensiled for 8 weeks had a higher pH (5.04) compared with 4.51, 5.03, and 4.57 recorded at 4, 12, and 16 weeks, respectively. In contrast, forages ensiled for 4 weeks recorded the highest titratable acidity (8.39) and Flieg point (104.07). CP content was higher in fresh Samsorg17 (110.64 g kg-1) and lower (71.01 g kg-1) in Samsorg41 ensiled for 8 weeks as influenced by variety × ensiling duration. Cumulative gas volume and methane were higher for Samsorg41 silage (21.21 and 6.76 ml 200 mg-1 DM respectively). Ensiling for 16 weeks resulted in higher silages' IVDMD (44.00%) compared with other ensiling durations. Samsorg14 and Samsorg17 had a relatively stable silage pH, higher CP, and digestibility. Therefore, their silages could be conserved up to 16 weeks to provide high-quality feed for ruminants during the dry season to maintain animal productivity and ultimately enhance food security.

Haematological and serum biochemical parameters of West African Dwarf goats fed dried cassava leaves-based concentrate diets.

The study was conducted to investigate the effects of feeding different levels of dried cassava leaves at 0%, 20%, 40% and 60%, respectively, using guinea grass as basal feed, on the haematological and serum biochemical parameters of West African Dwarf (WAD) goats. The study lasted for 116 days during which haematological and serum biochemical parameters were monitored in 40 male goats before and after, using a completely randomized design. At the start of the experiment, packed cell volume (PCV) ranged from 21.5% to 25.5% while haemoglobin concentration (Hb) and RBC significantly (P < 0.01) ranged from 7.3 to 8.6 g/dl and 10.4 to 13.2 × 10(12)/l, respectively. White blood cells reduced significantly (P < 0.05)) from 16.4 to 11.7 × 10(9)/l) as dried cassava leaves increased in the diets. At the end of the trial, there was a slight increase in the values of PCV and Hb in the diets (P > 0.05). Lymphocyte reduced significantly (P < 0.05) from 50.0% to 63.5% in the diets. Neutrophils, however, increased (P > 0.05) at the 0% to 40% levels and reduced at the 60% level of dried cassava leaves inclusion. At the start of the experiment, values for glucose significantly (P < 0.05) ranged from 40.1 to 56.0 mg/dl. Total protein and albumin values ranged significantly (P < 0.05) from 56.0 to 68.5 g/dl and 30.6 to 38.4 g/dl, respectively. At the end of the experiment, serum creatinine increased significantly (P < 0.05) as the level of dried cassava leaves increased from 0% to 60% in the diets. The study revealed that inclusion of dried cassava leaves in the diets of West African Dwarf goats had no deleterious effects on the haematological and serum biochemical parameters of WAD goats and could therefore be included in ruminant diets up to 60%.