GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF RED SOKOTO BUCKS FED GRADED LEVELS OF LABLAB (Lablab purpureus L. Sweet) HAY AS A SUPPLEMENT TO MAIZE (Zea mays) STOVER BASAL DIET

A study was carried out to investigate the effect of varying inclusion levels of lablab hay on performance, nutrient digestibility and nitrogen retention in Red Sokoto bucks. The experiment consisted of 20 male non-castrated Red Sokoto bucks of average initial weight ranging from 9.30-11.87±0.1kg were randomly assigned to five dietary treatments (T 1 , T 2 , T 3 , T 4 and T 5 ) containing lablab hay at (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100% levels) of inclusion, respectively. The bucks were individually pen-fed with the concentrate diets at 2% body weight in a Completely Randomized Design for a period of 90 days, while maize stover was fed ad libitum . The results of the experiment suggested that bucks fed 100% lablab hay inclusion level had 54% higher (P<0.05) average daily weight gain (ADWG) 44.22 g/day compared to treatment T 1 (20.22 g/day). However, feed intake decreased significantly (P<0.05) with increase in level of lablab hay. Feed conversion ratio (FCR) was 57% lowered (P<0.05) in T 5 (10.72) compared to T 1 (24.90). Digestibility coefficients of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), crude fibre (CF), ether-extract (EE) and nitrogen free extract (NFE) were above 60% and differed significantly (P<0.05) across the dietary treatments. Also, animals fed diets containing lablab hay at 60% inclusion level had significant higher (P<0.05) nitrogen retention (25.79g/day) compared to animals in T 1 (8.45g/day). The pH value observed in T 4 was 4% lower (P<0.05) compared to T 1 . The rumen ammonia-nitrogen (NH 3 -N) was significantly highest (P<0.05) in T 5 (33.23mg/100ml) compared to T 2 (28.40mg/100ml). There was 100% increase (P<0.05) in the total volatile fatty acids (TVFAs) in T 5 (20.50mmol/L) compared to T 1 (10.0mmol/L). The serum total protein level in the bucks differed significantly (P<0.05) with the highest value (5.80g/dL) recorded in T 5 . However, the blood urea nitrogen (BUN) was highest (P<0.05) in T 4 (7.50mmol/L) compared to T 1 (5.25mmol/L). Similarly, creatinine and glucose levels of the bucks increased by 67 and 44% (P<0.05), respectively in T 4 compared to T 1 . The gross margin (GM) per buck in T 1 was negative and 36% lowered (P<0.05) than in T 5 . However, income above feed cost (IAFC) was 17% significantly higher (P<0.05) in T 5 than in T 1 . It was therefore concluded that lablab hay can be included in the diet of Red Sokoto bucks up to 50% or more for good performance without any deleterious effect on health. The use of irrigated lablab hay in the diets of Red Sokoto bucks would help farmers to increase their profit and at the same time reduce the cost of purchasing highly expensive Cotton Seed Cake in Nigeria, since smaller quantity of Cotton Seed Cake would be needed.