The nutritive value of silages made from mixtures of pearl millet (Pennisetum americanum) and Lablab (Lablab purpureus) as feed for Yankasa rams

Abstract

A study was conducted with the field grown Pearl millet (Pennisetum americanum) and Lablab purpureus. The aim of the trial was to study the effect of the addition of Lablab legume in varying amount or the composition of daily intake and utilization of millet-silage by Yankasa sheep. Both crops were harvested separately, wilted, chopped and then mixed in four proportions (0:100, 15:85, 30:70 and 50:50% of lablab: millet, respectively) and ensiled. Silage treatments were found to be similar in concentrations of Dry Matter (DM), Organic Matter (OM) and Ether Extract (EE), while incorporation of lablab led to a small increase in Crude Protein (CP), Crude Fibre (CF) and Nitrogen Free Extract (NFE). All millet-lablab mixtures were adequately fermented with favourable aroma and colour. Comparisons of the four silage treatments revealed that, silage with 50:50 millet-lablab proportion was the most readily consumed by the rams with a mean intake of 48.4 g kg-1 W0.75 and lowest intake of 22.5 g kg-1 W0.75 for treatment with 0:100 lablab-millet proportion. Digestion coefficients declined steadily from the control (0:100% lablab-millet mixture) to 50% level legume incorporation. This investigation showed that the best performance of Yankasa rams on the basis of intake and digestibility was obtained from treatment with 50:50, lablab-millet mixtures. © 2008 Academic Journals Inc.