The following paper shows some of the specific damage to the apple orchard. These pests, very specific in terms of their morpho-anatomy, way of feeding, damage they cause and lifestyle, are representatives of the microscopic group of insects represented in the N / Order Coccoinea of the order Homoptera of this class (Insecta ). The paper provides data collected on this group of insects and their importance in terms of the damage they cause to orchards, in this case to apples. The data were obtained by conducting a series of field expeditions in six main regions of Southern Albania (Vlora, Saranda, Delvina, Gjirokastra, Tepelena and Permet). The expeditions have been carried out chronologically for over five years in a row and in every season of the year for every checkpoint. The material stored in liquid preservative (ethyl alcohol) was further processed, analyzed and interpreted in the laboratory. From this a number of important data have been obtained and it has been concluded in some important conclusions for the cultivation and breeding of this important orchard.
This study was designed to assess the digestibility of feed components and the growth performances of broilers fed on raw Cowpea based diet supplemented with fibrolytic enzyme (Naturzyme®). A control ration without Cowpea and enzyme was compared to six others rations in which raw cowpea was incorporated at 15 and 25% and supplemented with 350 and 500g enzyme/ton of feed. The experimental rations were randomly assigned to 252 twenty-one-day old Cobb500 broiler chickens in a 2x2 factorial design (two level of enzyme and two level of cowpea). At 49 days old, faeces were collected over a period of 3 days to assess the digestibility of feed components. The main results showed that the increasing rate of raw cowpea in the rations induced a linear decrease (p<0.05) in feed intake. The inclusion of 25% of cowpea in the ration irrespective of the rate of incorporation of the enzyme tends to increase the digestibility of feed component as compared to the control. Growth parameters of broilers inversely decrease with the incorporation rate of raw cowpea in the ration. The highest carcass yield (p<0.05) was recorded with 15% raw cowpea supplemented with 500g of enzyme per ton of feed. The relative weight of the gizzard increased significantly (p<0.05) with the increasing incorporation rate of raw cowpea in the diet with or without enzyme supplements. In conclusion, raw cowpea supplemented with enzyme did not substantially improve the growth performance of broilers. Other processing methods like boiled or fermented should be considered for better utilization of cowpea in broilers diet.
The tropics and subtropics is a habitat to diverse populations of indigenous goats and sheep breeds known for their adaptability to the existing harsh agro-ecological conditions and the majority are reared under traditional systems of management. Apart from their inherent ability to cope with a range of climatic conditions including disease challenges and inadequate feed resources whilst being exposed to mostly unsound management practices, indigenous goats and sheep are an integral part of the smallholder resource poor rural economies. Therefore, there is an obligation and considerable potential for increased meat production from the already existing diversity of indigenous goats and sheep animal genetic resources in the tropics and subtropics. However, indigenous goat and sheep performance in most cases is less than ideal due to a number of constraints namely inadequate nutrition and disease prevalence, poor support institutional involvement and lack of adequate government policies and funding to develop this industry. It has been noted that apart from their low genetic potential, indigenous goats and sheep’s exposure to suboptimal nutrition has been identified as the major factor that contribute to their low meat production. This is despite that the principal advantage of utilising indigenous goats and sheep in the tropics and subtropics is rightfully based on their small size and ability to utilise less productive areas that exist in existing total farming areas. Their ability to adapt to suboptimal production conditions characterised by persistent substandard nutritional feed resources makes indigenous goats and sheep perfect candidates for meat production in the tropics and subtropics. The potentiality of indigenous goats and sheep in the tropics and subtropics has been downgraded because they have not been selected for high meat performance. In this case efforts are at different stages of genetic characterisation of various indigenous goats and sheep breeds in order to ascertain their meat production potential. At the same time, crossing of genetically improved exotic goats and sheep breeds with indigenous flocks, has been noted as a feasible option to enhance meat productivity in the tropics and subtropics. Recent trends in indigenous goats and sheep utilization in order to match demand for meat and improve productivity in resource poor farming areas in the tropics and subtropics, local farmers have been incentivised to rear improved genotypes, which are predominantly crossbreds between superior meat exotic breeds and the indigenous goats and sheep breeds. Productivity with regards to indigenous goats and sheep can be specified as the magnitude of production or efficiency of production. This is based on the fact that in any indigenous goats and sheep production environment, productivity per se will exceptionally depend on an intricate correlations of biotic, abiotic and socio-economic variables. The factors are interdependent and therefore should be considered comprehensively to establish their ranking and how adjustments in constituents influence the whole indigenous goats and sheep production systems. A number of studies have been carried out to assess the growth potential, carcass and meat quality properties of several indigenous goats and sheep and their crosses in various agro-ecological regions within the tropics and subtropics. The results have been inconsistent due to various reasons which might probably include non-identical production conditions and the genetics of various small ruminants’ ecotype breeding groups. The present review gives an insight on some documented growth performance and carcass and meat quality properties of indigenous goats and sheep in the tropics and subtropics.
Africa is abundantly graced with an excess of domestic animal genetic resources that have adapted to the continent’s existing stressful conditions (Scholtz, 2005). Now, most momentous concern is the impending loss of domestic animal genetic resources that are threatened by increased uncontrolled crossbreeding with exotic genotypes. The resource poor rural animal agriculture systems in Africa has relied on these domestic animal genetic resources and they have proved beyond doubt their resilience under local prevailing conditions. Due to pressure of modern trends in livestock and poultry production systems and practices, there has been a mismatch on domestic animal genetic resources utilization and conservation sustainability. The imposition of highly intensified animal production practices has been associated with dominance of very high producing exotic animal genetic resources facilitating indiscriminate crossbreeding with domestic animal genetic resources in rural Africa. This has been implemented without taking into account that predicted changes in climate will impose selection pressures on traits significant for biological fitness (and production) and adaptability. The new focus has downplayed the contribution of domestic animal biodiversity has yet to be properly integrated into strategies for adaptation to and mitigation of climate change and variability consequences. It is imperative that domestic animal genetic resources’ role in the resilience of rural animal production systems in Africa still need to be promoted. Domestic livestock and poultry species in Africa are unique animal genetic resources which need to be safeguarded under the pending unpredictable climate change and variability and the rapid changing world. The modern trends which emphasize on productivity undermines the element of genetic adaptation enshrined in domestic animal genetic resources which is vital for future of Africa’s animal agriculture. As a consequence, domestic animal genetic diversity is diminishing drastically due to indiscriminate crossing of exotic with the domestic animal genetic population. To arrest this erosion or population decline focus should be to promote domestic animal genetic resources in situ avoiding the replacement approach and include maintaining adaptation as part of any animal breeding strategies on domestic animal genetic resources utilization practices in Africa. The review looks at the influence of crossbreeding exotic animal genetic resources with domestic animal genetic resources as the major driver of animal genetic loss in Africa.
The study was conducted to obtain information on farmers’ perception on the utilization of sweet potato peels for livestock feeding. The data were generated by administering a total of 90 structured questionnaires. Results indicated that all the respondents (100%) were males and use sweet potato peel as supplementary feed for their animals. Furthermore, the majority of the farmers were having between 1-10 number of small ruminants (68.9%) feeding them mostly from their crop residues (73.3%) for fattening purposes (53.3%). All the farmers affirm that the peel is available all year round which is solely used for animal feed and usually costs between 42-52 Nigerian Naira per kg. In conclusion, sweet potato peel is a potential feed ingredient in livestock feeding and the involvement of women in crop/livestock production is still a challenge in sub-Saharan Africa since males are still dominating the industry. Thus, women need to be empowered with all the necessary support in the agricultural sector particularly in the study area where the current work was conducted.
Sub-Saharan Africa is endowed with diverse and locally adapted indigenous livestock and poultry breeds/varieties that have continued to sustain production in rural areas, despite the climate change induced harsh and extreme environment associated with diseases and parasite infections, heat stress and installments of feed and water scarcity. The indigenous livestock and poultry genetic resources are critical to the rural communities’ welfare and livelihoods, food security and nutritional status, and other socio-economic environmental benefits. This scenario is on the background that the larger proportion of the Sub-Saharan Africa population resides in rural areas and are mainly dependent on agriculture for their livelihood, especially the reliant on indigenous livestock and poultry populations. Now, the major challenge is that this subsector is highly vulnerable to climate change that has impinged on their ability to sustain their productivity in rural areas. In this case, rural communities should adopt coping strategies to arrest the vulnerability of animal agriculture to avoid food and nutrition deficit at the household level. Climate change impact on indigenous livestock and poultry rearing among rural resource-poor farmers will take different forms that include unsettled rainfall onset and stoppage (which are each either early or late), poor seasonal distribution of rainfall, and less than normal rainfall. Trends in temperature and rainfall have displayed an increase in average maximum temperatures, at the same time average annual rainfall showed a general decline in most cases, which has impacted negatively on grazing or indigenous livestock and poultry feed resources. Drought is a perennial feature associated with climate change, and increasing indigenous livestock and poultry disease and parasite incidences, dwindling water sources, which result in lack of flourishing grazing and livestock pastures are the major climate-related risks that hurt smallholder indigenous livestock and poultry production. Considering all these interrelated issues, an urgent arise for fostering adaptive capacity and resilience to climate change-related risks as a viable option to enable them to protect their livelihoods and ensuring their food and nutrition security. The resource poor rural dwellers have not been passive observers in combating the effects of climate change as they have adopted several local coping strategies seeking to sustain indigenous livestock and poultry production through building resilience in the indigenous and poultry rearing systems. The adopted different forms of coping strategies include promoting native animal genetic resources, diversification, crop-livestock integration, and micro-livestock farming and fodder conservation technologies. Diversification of indigenous livestock and poultry portfolios is a feasible option in fostering resilience to climate risks and thus improving the well-being outcomes of smallholder animal agriculture. The ability to cope with the impact of climate change depends largely on household’s resilience, or its capacity to absorb the impact of and recover from, climate change shock or risks. Therefore, there is a need to develop resilient indigenous livestock and poultry production systems in smallholder resource-poor rural areas. Developing resilient and diverse breeds, climate-smart livestock and poultry husbandry practices and policy support programs are the potential areas for strengthening resilience livestock and poultry rearing for resource-poor rural farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. With the advent of climate change, there is a concern on how to manage the indigenous livestock and poultry sector's growth, so that their socio-economic and environmental benefits can be attained at a lower environmental cost. This present discussion examines climate change risks and coping strategies at the household level in livestock and poultry rearing among rural resource-poor farmers in Sub Saharan Africa.
The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding sweet potato peels on feed and nutrient intakes using sixteen Uda lambs with an average weight of 25.3kg in a Completely Randomized Design (CRD) experiment. The animals were allotted to four levels of sweet potato peels containing 0, 10, 20 and 30% which constitute the treatments designated 1, 2, 3 and 4 respectively. Treatment one had zero supplementation and served as the control. Data generated from the study were subjected to statistical analysis. Performance of the Uda lambs indicated that average dry matter intake, average daily weight gain, final weight gain and feed conversion ratio indicated no significant (p>0.05) difference between the treatments. However, significant variations were recorded between Treatment 2 and the rest of the treatments in terms of dry matter intake, crude protein intake, crude fibre intake, ether extract intake, ash intake and nitrogen free extract intake (p<0.05). The study showed that dietary inclusion of sweet potato peel in the diet of Uda lambs does not have any detrimental effect on the growth performance of Uda lambs under the condition in which the present experiment was conducted.
Litter size is one of the major external (non-genetic) factors which has a multifaceted influence as it regulates both reproduction and production in goats and sheep. Apart from being a principal source of variation on kid/lamb growth performance and survivability, litter size has been implicated in influencing milk yield and composition. However, it is important to note that the influence of litter size on milk constituencies such as protein, fat, lactose, pH, colostrum, etc. has been inconsistent in a number of studies. In absolute terms, milk production is a function of animal genetics and an array of non-genetic factors, and among the latter litter size is ranked highly. There is a tendency of prolificacy promoting high milk production, which implies multiple birth will enhance milk production. The positive relationship between litter size and milk production with regards to multiple bearing dams outperforming single bearing dams is due to prolactin stimulation of the udder which depends on the intensity of the suckling stimulus in response to the number of kids/lambs in a litter. It is more likely that the relationship between milk yield and litter size is for the most part dependent on the extent of prepartum development of the mammary gland where prolactin plays a major role. There is a distinct and strong established physiological link between the number of foetuses in a dam, the resultant placental mass and lactogenic (hormonal) function of plasma to advancement and development of mammary gland in the course of pregnancy and of litter size to milk production. The underlying drivers of milk production are developed in a way specified during fertilization and embryogenesis’s based on the development of placental mass which has a hormonal influence on mammary development in turn milk production. Larger litters promote extensive formation of placental mass as compared with small sized litter. The greater the placental mass as a function of larger litter size the greater the extent of mammary growth hence the greater the dams’ milking capacity. The relationship between litter size and milk composition has been inconclusive as indicated by inconsistency of study results by various authors. The present discussion explores the significance of litter size (birth type) on milk yield and composition in goats and sheep production.
A study was conducted in Cameroon in the dry season to identify the parasites likely to infect edible African giant snails. A total of 120 snails (Achatina fulica and Archachatina marginata) were sampled in the Littoral, Center and West regions of Cameroon. After macroscopic observation of the snails, slime, haemolymph and the internal organs (digestive gland, digestive tract and reproductive system) were isolated and examined using the flotation technique and direct smear (simple and stained). The results revealed that, the most common parasites were cyst of Balantidium coli (42.5%), larva of Enterobius vermicularis (30.8%), cyst of Isospora sp (25.8%), Trichodina achatinae (24.2%), mesocercariae of Alaria sp (21.7%), larva of Angiostrongylus cantonensis (18.3%), cysts of Cryptosporidium sp (15.8%) and Enteromonas sp (10.0%). The least represented were unidentified mite (6.7%), Riccardoella limacum (6.7%), larva of Strongyloides stercoralis (6.7%), eggs of Dicrocoelium dendriticum (3.3%), Fasciola sp eggs (2.5%), Hyostrongylus stercoralis egg (2.5%), larva of Protostrongylus sp (2.5%) and Schistosoma mansoni eggs (0.8%). A. fulica was more infected (80.0%) than A. marginata (70.0%) and snails collected in the Lekie locality were more infected (92.5%) followed by snails from the Wouri locality (82.5%) and finally snails from the Santchou locality (50.0%). Protozoans had the highest infection rate followed by nematodes while the unidentified mite was less prevalent. The host-parasite relationship between the parasites and the snails is multi-factorial because the snail stands either as final, intermediate or paratenic host for the identified parasites. The pathogenic effect of these parasites on snails should be investigated.
Reproducti ve performance is a major contributing factor to the efficiency of goat and sheep meat production. The refore, enhancement of reproductive capacity of goat and sheep flocks is among the most effective mechanisms of increasing the overall meat production. There is an inessential difference between productivity and reproductivity, as almost of the reproductive parame ters are the ones that greatly influence production, consequently the viability of any goat and sheep enterprise: stated differently, production is equal to reproduction. Reproductive performance and its interactions on the productivity of goats and sheep flock s , especially with regards to the management of each ewe’s/doe’s lifetime production ( female replacement determination), are structural grantors of a complex biological system that determine meat yield . The principal goal of goat and sheep reproducti on is to iterate generations for a specified production intention, first and foremost meat, milk or wool as defined by species or breeds and their crosses and in special circumstances, the production of animals of superior economic priority. Some of the me asures of reproductive performance include parameters such as survival rate, prolificacy, sexual maturity, lambing age and interval, conception rates, kid/lambs weaned per year etc. Reproductive characteristics are sensitive to environmental factors as a r esult can easily adapt to sound flock reproductive management practices. More or less important variables goat and sheep farmers need to attentively consider to promote reproductive performance are age of animals , weather, season, and nutrition. There is e vidence that nutrition and management are Contents lists available at Sjournals Scientific Journal of Animal Science Journal homepage: www. s journals.com R eview article CODEN (USA): SJASAB Never Assan / Scientific Journal of Animal Science (20 20 ) 9 ( 5 ) 6 08 - 619 609 major determinants of kids’/lambs survival rates, while genetic has been a dominant factor controlling prolificacy. Regardless of the fact that genetics of animals is important in goat and sheep reproduction , repro ductive traits are lowly heritable as a result any attempt to genetically improve reproductive efficiency becomes slow and difficult. Th is entails reproductive efficiency through genetic selection is completely implausible . It is assumed that understanding the measures of reproduction, especially females in order to attain an optimum number of new - born of the required attributes at the most co nvenient time and at a minimum cost is critical for mutton and chev on producers. The earl ier the replacement females starts to give birth to young ones, the more the young ones they produce in their life time, and also the longer the females’ productive life as a result contributing to long term flock productivity. Protracted kidding/lambing interval will reduce overall productivity in goats and sheep meat production , while p ersistent check on reproductive indicators throughout all phases in the reproduct ive cycle allows producers to adopt husbandry management practices that are meant to optimise overall meat productivity in goats and sheep . The present review gives an insight on some of the indicators of reproductive performance and their possibl e impact on the overall productivity in goats and sheep meat production .
This study was assigned to assess the effect palm kernel meal as protein source in broiler chickens diet. The experimental rations consisted of replacing soybean meal by palm kernel meal at the rates of 50, 75 and 100 percent supplemented with lysine-methionine and spirulina and a control ration without palm kernel meal. The main results revealed that, all the growth parameters decreased with increasing rate of substitution of soybean meal with palm kernel meal. Compared to the control ration containing soybean meal as main protein source, feed conversion ratio increased by 25.97; 39.39 and 71.43 % with lysine-methionine mixture and by 40.34; 53.22 and 62.66% with spirulina in rations containing 50, 75 and 100 % palm kernel meal respectively. Carcass yield globally decreased, with the exception of carcass yields with 75% palm kernel meal supplemented with lysine-methionine that increased by 3.48 % compared to the control ration. The relative weight of the legs, head and digestive organs increased with increasing rate of palm kernel meal in feed regardless of the supplement. The lowest cost of production was recorded with spirulina compared to lysine-methionine regardless of the level of incorporation of palm kernel meal in feed. In conclusion, using large quantities of palm kernel meal even enriched with amino acids or proteins rich resources is not profitable to broiler chickens.
This study was conducted to monitor the performance of ISA Brown layers under different feeding systems using sorghum. The effect of feeding nutritionally different diets in sequential or loose-mix systems on the performance of three hundred and sixty (360) laying hens from 23 rd to 42 nd weeks of age was investigated. The birds were assigned to four (4) treatment groups of ninety (90) birds each. The treatments were control maize (ground), control sorghum (ground), loose-mix and sequential. Sequential feeding was found to reduce total feed intake, compared to both loose-mix and the two control treatments. Egg production was lower (P<0.05) in the sequential treatment while egg weight, egg mass and final body weight were higher (P<0.05). Feed conversion ratio was better (P<0.05) in the sequential feeding. The study concluded that sorghum can be used as a replacement for maize part per part in feeding layers and that feeding whole sorghum grains loosely-mixed or sequentially had no negative effects on the performance of laying hens and are thus potential alternatives to the conventional feeding system.
An ethnobotanical study of indigenous knowledge on the uses of medicinal plant species was conducted from December 2017 to March 2018 in Gasera district of Bale Zone, Oromia Regional State. The objective of the study was to document indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants used to treat human and livestock ailments, threats and conservation status of medicinal plants before it is lost. Different ethnobotanical techniques such as semi-structured interviews, group discussion, field observations and guided field walk were used for gathering data and a total of 97 informants from 6 kebeles were involved in the study. A total of 121 medicinal plant species belonging to 113 genera and 60 families were documented. Among plant families, Lamiaceae was the most dominant plant family represented by 10 species, followed by Solanaceae represented by 8 species and Asteraceae represented by 7 species. Most of the species (78 species) were collected from the wild while (43 species) were collected from home-gardens. A total of 59 (48.76%) species were used for the treatment of human ailments, 34 species (28.1%) were used to treat both human and livestock ailments and 28 species (23.14%) were used to treat livestock ailments only. Herbs were the most used plants, accounting for 52.89% followed by shrubs (23.14%), trees (19.01%), climbers (3.31%) and epiphytes (1.65%). Human interference through habitat destruction for agricultural expansion, construction, firewood and other purposes were the major threats to medicinal plants in the study area. Awareness raising and community based participatory forest management program should be encouraged.
The key to effective case management of malaria is prompt and accurate diagnosis of malaria which is necessary to prevent morbidity and mortality. Accurate and practical malaria diagnostic such as immunochromatographic rapid diagnostic test can avert unnecessary treatments and save lives. Malaria presents a diagnostic challenge in most tropical countries. The urgency and importance of obtaining results quickly from the examination of blood samples from patient with suspected malaria is possible with the introduction of rapid malaria diagnostic test. Rapid diagnostic tests are useful in guiding therapeutic intervention, can be accessible to rural and urban populations, easy to perform and to interpret, affordable, requires no sophicated equipment and prompt treatment of malaria. The use of rapid diagnostic test in the case management of malaria has a lot of challenges which includes: persistent of histidine rich protein 2 in circulation after therapy and parasite death, effect of genetic diversity, lack of quality control on microscopy examination, poor transportation and storage condition, poor regulatory mechanism, lot-to-lot variation, parasite density and lack of extensive training prior to the use of rapid diagnostic test and supervision.
Rabbit milk yield and chemical composition is determined by various factors. Growth rate and body weight gain are good indicators of kitsdoe’s maternal behavior, especially in milk production. Generally, it is pronounced that growth and survival of kits towards weaning is the most important stage related to does milking potential. However, it is important to note that lactation curves vary with breed, notwithstanding milk production being influenced by various factors. Clearly, it has been observed that apart from genotype being a dominant factor in influencing milk production in rabbits, there are other factors such as nutrition, parity, stage of lactation, litter size etc. which have also been implicated. In this aspect, appropriate knowledge on factors that influence does milking capacity is essential for improved performance in rabbits. Provision of adequate nutritional requirements of nursed kits through dam’s milk is essential for maximum growth, development and survival. In the early stage of growth until weaning, does milk is the exclusive source of nutrients to support the pertinent needs for maintenance and growth in rabbits. The accelerated growth preceding weaning can be ascribed to the doe’s energy rich milk that is significant in both fat and protein and low lactose. An increase in milk intake, can improve kits growth traits and may also transcribe to heavier final market weight and financial gains. It is reasonable to suggest that to enhance kits nutritional intake, the mother should produce adequate milk. On the other hand, milk production increases with increased litter size, while high total milk yield is registered in winter followed by autumn. Milk production increase firmly during the seven parity and decline from that time forward. Crossbreeding promote favorable and positive heterotic influence on milk yield and composition. There is a predictable positive correlation of does milking capacity and productive traits. The purpose of this review is to discuss the factors that influence milk production in does and their implication for rabbit performance.
Calliandra calothyrsus (Meissner) is a multipurpose forage tree that can improve the nutrition of livestock due to its high crude protein content. However, the shrub has low digestibility. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of graded levels of urea treatment on nutrient composition and in-vitro digestibility of C. calothyrsus leaves. Mature leaves of C. calothyrsus were hand harvested in the first week of August 2016, after the flowering stage. They were air dried under the shed for five days in order to maintain the green colour of the leaves. They were then treated with 0% (control), 3%, 5% and 7% urea solutions for four weeks under anaerobic conditions. Some of the air dried samples were ground and analysed for nutrient composition, crude protein (CP), acid detergent fibre (ADF), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), dry matter (DM) and ash. There was an increase in CP following increase in the level of urea treatment from 210 to 320g/kg DM. A decrease was noted in fibre content with increasing level of urea treatment. Digestibility trial was conducted using the Tilley and Terry two stage method. In-vitro dry matter digestibility increased significantly at (p<0.05) with increase in urea treatment noted from 439.7-530.7g/kg DM. The results show the effectiveness of urea treatment in increasing the crude protein and in-vitro digestibility of C. calothyrsus .
Gametogenesis is a fundamental aspect in sexual reproduction. Successful gametogenesis transcends to high fertility in any breeding herd when all other production factors are held optimum. The interaction amongst gametogenesis, embryogenesis, antioxidants and oxidative stress should be considered a key component of livestock fertility which has the potential to improve efficiency. This discussion looks at the influence of antioxidants and oxidative stress on gametogenesis, embryogenesis and livestock fertility in broad. Any disorders during gametogenesis and embryogenesis result in reduced fertility in livestock. Infertility is one of the major bottlenecks hampering livestock production. Livestock fertility is a multi-factorial trait as its decline is attributed to physiological, genetic, and environmental as well as husbandry factors. Furthermore, the discussion will spell out how antioxidants can be exploited as a remedy to tackle negative effects of reactive oxygen species in in vivo .
Consumption of animal protein in Nigeria is far less than recommended level for adequate growth and development in humans. There is the need to beef up livestock production, especially in the sub humid zone through intensive system using bigger breeds for improved nutritional status. The objective of this study was to evaluate the growth performance and the carcass characteristics of Yankasa rams fed Panicum maximum fodder supplemented with concentrate mix under intensive feedlot. Twenty yearling Yankasa rams of an average body weight of 21.33+0.50 kg were randomly assigned into five treatment groups with four animals per group in a randomized completely block design (RCBD) after being quarantined for 30 days. The experimental diets consisted of Panicum maximum fodder as the basal diet at 3% body weight of the rams. Concentrate diet was formulated using maize (25.00%), brewers dried grains (40.50%), moringa leaf meal (16.00%), urea (2.70%), rice husk (14.50%), vitamin-mineral premix (1.00%) and common salt (0.30%). The concentrate mix served as the supplement to and replaced the basal diet at 0, 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0% body weight of the rams respectively in treatment 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5. The amount of feed offered was adjusted weekly based on average body weight from the preceding week. The dry matter, crude protein (CP) constituents and the gross energy (GE) value of concentrate were higher than that of the forage. However, the crude fibre (CF) of forage was greater than the CF of concentrate mix. There were no significant (p>0.05) differences among the means of the feed intake in the treatments. The average daily weight gain and metabolic weight gains increased significantly (p<0.05) with increased supplements. Significantly (p<0.05) higher feed conversion ratio (FCR) was recorded for rams in T1 (24.07±1.12) while T5 had lowest value (8.35±0.80). Carcass yield was increased with increasing level of supplementation while integrity of the relative organs characteristics were maintained. The best result was obtained when Yankasa rams were fed with 2% concentrate mix as percentage body weight of the rams. Supplementing Panicum maximum with varied levels of concentrate mix resulted in improved rams’ productivity.
