Abstract
In the south west of Nigeria there two distinct seasons (rainy and dry). Forage availability is seasonal. Rainy period is synonymous to abundance of fodders but experience scarcity during dry season. Therefore, in order to broaden the feed base for ruminants in Nigeria, the suitability of thirty one (31) browse species as feed for ruminant animals was investigated. The nutritive components of the foliage of these browse species were determined. Chemical composition of the forages was examined. Presence of secondary metabolites viz-a-viz tannins, saponins and steroids was determined qualitatively. Also, a short term forage preference (acceptability test) for the browse species by West African Dwarf (WAD) goats was evaluated using a cafeteria method in Ten (10) adult female WAD goats. The thirty one (31) browse plants were classified into two groups of legumes and non-legumes. The non-legumes were further sub-divided into non-leguminous family related and unrelated.
Results indicate that crude protein (CP) content was significantly (P<0.05) lowest in Syzygium zamaragensis and highest in Griffonia simplicifolia while Neutral detergent fibre (NDF) differed significantly (P<0.05) and ranged from 32.08 to 69.31% in Leucaena leucephala and Kigelia africana respectively. All other components were also varied significantly.
The acceptability assessment of the browse species revealed that only twelve of the fodder species evaluated were accepted and when these twelve were further subjected to acceptability test, five of the twelve that were previously preferred were only accepted. The remaining seven were rejected. It was concluded from the study that goats select their diets when they are introduced to varieties of forages.
