Digestibility and nitrogen balance of sole malted sorghum sprout, maize stover and rice straw in West African Dwarf goat

A study on digestibility and nitrogen balance of sole Malted Sorghum Sprout (MSS), Maize Stover (MST) and Rice Straw (RSW) in West African Dwarf goat was x-rayed, nine male West African Dwarf (WAD) goats with body weight of 9-11kg allotted to individual metabolic cage in complete randomized design for 21-days experiment. Results shows that DM% ranged between 78.00 – 92.50%, CP content of 4.75% in MST, RSW (8.57%) while 14.25% CP was recorded for MSS. Crude fibre was higher (36.44%) in MST. Apparent digestibility of CP was low (6.04%) in goat fed sole MSS followed by MST (17.05%) and RSW 21.24%, EE digestibility was significantly (P<0.05) higher in goat fed MSS, while ADF digestibility were similar (P>0.05) in animals placed on sole RSW and MST, ash digestibility was similar (P>0.05) in goat fed MSS and MST. Voluntary feed intake was significantly (P<0.05), higher (600g/day) in the goats offered sole MSS but water intake in all the goats were not significantly (P>0.05) different. Nitrogen intake, faecal nitrogen, absorbed nitrogen, urinary nitrogen and total nitrogen retention were significantly (P<0.05) higher in goat fed sole MSS, while goats on MST had the least significant (P<0.05) N-intake (0.76g/day), faecal-N (0.50g/day), absorbed N (0.26%/day) and total N-retention (0.63g/day). Goats fed RSW had higher significant (P<0.05) N-balance (0.29g/day) compared to other goats on MSS and MST which were similar (P>0.05) in N-balance. Conclusively, none of the experimental feedstuffs can be fed as sole diet to goats since the nutrients and digestibility are lower than recommended values. It can be recommended from these results that these feedstuffs should be supplemented with other feedstuffs to give a balanced diet before being fed to West African Dwarf goats to improve their performance.Key words: Nutrients, Digestibility, Nitrogen balance, Crop residue and Goat