Cassava Leaf Silage and Cassava Peel As Dry Season Feed for West African Dwarf Sheep

Dr. Anaeto, M., Sawyerr A.F,Alli, T.R., Tayo, G.O, Adeyeye, J.A, Olarinmoye, A.O.

Volume 13 Issue 2

Global Journal of Science Frontier Researc

The study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of feeding cassava leaf silage (CLS) and cassava peels (CP) on performance characteristics and some haematological parameters of West African Dwarf (WAD) sheep. Nine sheep were randomly allotted into three treatments, with three sheep per treatment. The control diet (T1) consisted of grass, while sheep in (T2) and (T3) were fed with CLS and CP at 1.5% of their body weight, respectively for a period of seven weeks. The average daily weight gain, body length, withers height and heart girth were measured at weekly intervals. In addition, blood samples were collected at the beginning and end of the experiment and analyzed for PCV, WBC, Lymphocyte and Neutrophil count. Statistical analysis showed that animals fed with CP had a significant weight gain (P<0.05), while there was no significant difference in wither height, body length and heart girth, respectively. However, there was a significant differences (P<0.05) in the haematological parameters measured. No mortality was recorded during the experiment. It can be concluded that CLS and CP are good feed resources for maintaining sheep during the dry season.