Nitrogen Metabolism, Digestibility and Blood Profile of West African Dwarf Goats Fed Dietary Levels of Cajanus cajan as Supplement to Cassava Peels

The effect of inclusion level on nutrient intake, digestibility, nitrogen metabolism and haematological parameters of West African Dwarf (WAD) goat fed Cajanus cajan as supplement to cassava peels was investigated in a completely randomized design experiment using twenty-four WAD goats with average initial weight of 10.75±0.85kg (March-September, 2016). There were four treatments as: A=100% Cassava peels (control); B=75% Cassava+25% C. cajan; C=50% Cassava+50% C cajan; D=25% Cassava+75% C. cajan hay. Result showed that C. cajan had better nutrient values with 15.53% Crud Protein (CP) and 30.55% Crude Finer (CF) contents than cassava peels with 4.70 % CP and 13.35 % CF. Inclusion of C. cajan as supplement to cassava peels in the diets of WAD goat significantly lowered (p<0.05) DM intake. CP intake increased with increased hay supplementation. CP, CF, NDF, ADF and ADL intakes were highest in goats fed diet D. Nutrient digestibility and N retained were best under treatment D-75% C. cajan inclusion. Consequently, the highest weight gain (16.98 g/day) was recorded for goats fed diet D. The higher values of 27.33% Packed cell volume (PCV), 9.12 g/dl Haemoglobin (Hb), 12.07 x106 ml Red blood cell (RBC) and 4.91 x103 ml White blood cell (WBC) counts for animals were obtained using treatment D that they were within the normal physiological range for healthy goat.