Carcass yield of West African dwarf goats fed graded level of millet husk – based diets

Abstract

The study evaluated the effect of replacing wheat bran with millet husk on the carcass traits of West African dwarf (WAD) goats under. Twenty weaner goats were randomly allocated to five dietary treatments (T1 – T5 in a Completely Randomized Design, with 4 animals per treatment. T1 serves as the control with 0% millet husk, while T2, T3, T4, and T5 contained 6.25%, 12.5%, 18.75 and 25% millet husk inclusion levels as a replacement for wheat bran respectively. The feeding trial lasted 90 days and carcass characteristics were assessed. The results revealed that goats on T1 exhibited superior growth and carcass characteristics compared to those on T2 –T5 (p<0.05). However, goats fed diets containing up to 50% millet husk replacement maintained appreciable live weight and carcass traits, indicating that millet husk and serve as a viable partial substitute for wheat bran. The inclusion of millet husk also promotes the utilization of an agricultural waste, reduce environmental pollution, and adds economics value to millet husk. Additionally, it provides a practical alternatives to mitigate feed scarcity during the lean period of the year. It is therefore concluded that millet husk can replace wheat bran at up to 50% in the diets of WAD goats without compromising growth and carcass performance.