Quality Evaluation and Acceptability of Cassava Peels Ensiled With Poultry Litter for West African Dwarf Goats

The scarcity of quality feed resources for sustaining ruminant growth and development, particularly during the dry season, remains a major challenge to livestock production. This can be combated by using crop residue which can be improved with addition of protein source and preserved in form of silage. Varying portions of cassava peel (CP) and poultry litter (PL) were ensiled with Panicum maximum (PM) for 21 days. T1: 10 % PM + 10 % PL + 80 % CP; T2: 10 % PM + 20 % PL + 70 % CP; T3: 10 % PM + 30 % PL + 60 % CP and T4: 10 % PM + 40 % PL + 50 % CP. Acceptability of diets was determined using eight mature West African Dwarf (WAD) bucks with average weight of 15kg and aged over a year. Completely randomized design was adopted for the study. The pH and temperature of the silage reduced with increasing level of PL. Colour, odour and texture of silages were influenced by increase in PL. Acceptability of the ration was similar within the treatments having the coefficient of preference (COP) greater than unity except in T4 with COP less than unity. Significant differences (P<0.05) were observed among the treatments in COP and percentage of preference. The result suggest that inclusion of poultry litter up to 30% in cassava-peel-based silage maintained acceptable silage characteristics and animal preference, whereas 40% inclusion markedly reduced preference.