Study on Growth Rate Performance of Sheep Fed with Super Napier Grass Silage Treated with Lactobacillus buchneri and Lactobacillus plantarum
This research was aimed to study the growth rate performance of sheep fed with super Napier grass silage treated with Lactobacillus buchneri and Lactobacillus plantarum. Thirty (30) growing sheep were randomly distributed to three treatments with ten sheep serving as replications per treatment. The treatments were as follows: Treatment 1- Super Napier grass silage without inoculants (control). Treatment 2- Super Napier grass silage with L. buchneri. Treatment 3- Super Napier grass silage with L. plantarum. The results revealed that super Napier grass (SNG) silages treated with inoculants had a higher levels of crude protein, crude fiber, crude fat, ash and nutrient detergent fiber compared with the untreated SNG silages. The DM fraction of the SNG treated silages was increased in contrast to the untreated where the moisture content increased. The experiment trial indicated that SNG silage treated with Lactobacillus buchneri and Lactobacillus plantarum(T2 and T3) influenced. In terms of the growth parameters, significant (P<0.01) differences were noted on body weight, weight gained, average daily gain (ADG) feed consumption and feed efficiency (FCR). The feeding trial indicated that SNG silage treated with Lactobacillus buchneriandLactobacillus plantarum (T2 and T3) influenced sheep growth rate performance, weight gain, feed intake and days to market. Thus, addition of beneficial microbes improve the nutritional quality of silage and increased nutrients levels resulting to higher growth of sheep.
