– Ettu, R. O., Ikotun, T . O., Kassim, H. G. and Mako, A. A.
Abstract
The study was carried out to investigate the performance of Male West African Dwarf Sheep fed graded levels of Moringa leaves. Twenty (15) male WAD sheep were used for the experiment and were randomly allocated to five groups with three replicates in a completely randomized design. Group 1 consumed 100% Moringa leaves, group 2 consumed 75% Moringa leaves + 25% cassava peels, group 3 ate 50% Moringa leaves + 50% cassava peels while group 4 consumed 25% Moringa leaves + 75% cassava peels and group 5 consumed 0% Moringa leaves + 100% cassava peels. The results obtained for the final weight gain. The body weight gain, average daily weight gain and feed intake followed the same pattern because they are significantly (p<0.05) different from each other among the treatments but the feed conservation ratio deviated from the earlier pattern of the feed intake being significantly (p<0.05) higher in treatment 4 (25% Moringa leaves + 75% cassava peels). With the inclusion of Moringa leaves there was a significant difference (p<0.05) in the weight gain across the diets. As the level of inclusion of Moringa leaves resources, the weight gain of the animals was also affected. The best feed efficiency was recorded in group 1 which was an indication that the animals in the group had best utilization of most of the available nutrients.