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An experiment was conducted to evaluate the yield of forage, silage and nutrients composition of two maize accessions: West Atlantic Seed Alliance 1 (WASA1) and an accession from Shika tagged (SHIMAZ). The maize seeds were planted in plots of 5 m x 5 m (25 m 2 ) size with four replicates for each accession. The results showed that, there was no significant (P > 0.05) difference between the accessions for plant height and number of leaves at 4, 6, 8 and 10 weeks after sowing (WAS), but leaf area index (LAI) was significantly (P < 0.05) higher in SHIMAZ accession at 6 and 10 WAS. The number of leaves per plant, green leaves, leaf area and forage yield at 91, 105 and 119 days after sowing (DAS) were not significant (P > 0.05) in the two accessions of maize, but leaf area and LAI were significantly (P < 0.05) higher in WASA1 accession.. The percentage dry-matter (DM) content was significantly (P < 0.05) lower in WASA1, although leaf, and stem ratios were significantly (P < 0.01) higher at various stages of harvest. The crude protein (CP) and nitrogen free-extract (NFE) were significantly (P < 0.01) higher in WASA1 accession while crude fibre (CF) was significantly (P < 0.01) higher in SHIMAZ. The proximate components (ash, EE and CP) and NDF were significantly (P < 0.01) higher in WASA1 silage, but NFE and ADF were higher (P < 0.05) in SHIMAZ accession.

The study was set up to evaluate fodder from six dual-purpose groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) cultivars for animal performance and rumen dry matter (DM) degradability characteristics. Thirty-six West African dwarf (WAD) sheep were used to evaluate the utilization of groundnut stover from six improved dual-purpose cultivars (M170-80I; M554-76; M572-80I; RMP-12; UGA-2; UGA-5) as sole diets over 70 d. Rumen DM degradability characteristics were studied using four WAD sheep in a completely randomized design. Dry matter, crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), acid detergent lignin (ADL) and metabolisable energy (ME) contents were similar while, cultivar RMP-12 recorded the highest (P < 0.05) hemicellulose (64 g/kg DM and cellulose (396 g/kg DM) contents. Organic matter (58.1 to 71.9 g/kg metabolic weight (W 0.75 )/d) and NDF (32 to 41 g/kg W 0.75 /d) intake were significantly different (P < 0.05). The digestibility of DM (508 to 623 g/kg DM), OM (498 to 626 g/kg DM) and CP (488 to 588 g/kg DM) differed (P < 0.05). Similarly, NDF digestibility (488 to 635 g/kg DM) and ADF digestibility (406 to 572 g/kg DM) were significantly different (P < 0.05). Nitrogen balance (3.0±0.98 g/d) was similar (P > 0.05) among cultivars, whereas available protein ranged (P < 0.05) from 2.5 g d -1 for RMP-12 to 29.0 g d -1 for M170-80I. Liveweight changes (LWC) varied between 6 g/d weight loss by sheep on UGA-2 fodder and 46 g/d in M170-80I. Soluble fraction (a) differed significantly (P < 0.05) ranging between 197 and 351 g/kg DM, while degradable fraction (b) and rate of degradation of b (c) were not significantly different. The 48-h degradation (501 to 596 g/kg DM), potential degradability; PD (584 to 687 g/kg DM) and effective degradability; ED (415 to 489 g/kg DM) varied (P < 0.05). Groundnut stover could be fed as sole diets or supplements to WAD sheep, and the cultivars ranked in decreasing order of stover quality as: M170-80I > UGA-5 > M572-80I = UGA-2 > 50 RMP-12 > M554-76. While sole-feeding groundnut has been illustrated to result in improved weight gain in WAD sheep, it might also be economical to use the fodder as a supplement.

These studies were carried out at the Research farm of National Animal Production Research Institute, Shika to investigate the effect of management practices on the milk yield and live weight changes of grazing Red Sokoto and Sahelian goats as influenced by supplementation with groundnut haulms and concentrate. Experiment 1 involved 5 Red Sokoto goats with average weight of 27.3 ± 1.37Kg kept either on-farm or on-station and fed groundnut haulms or concentrate. The result showed that management had significant effect on average daily gain (ADG) of kid at 146.7± 0.62g (P<0.01) and dam weight loss of-24.7±1.26g (P<0.05). Milk yield was less sustained on farm. Week of lactation affected milk yield (P<0.01). In experiment 2, five goats of each of Red Sokoto or Sahelian breeds were randomly assigned to either groundnut haulms or concentrate as supplement. The results, showed that there were significant effect of breed (P<0.0001) and week (P<0.001) on milk yield, mean dam and kid weights respectively. The Red Sokoto dams had higher milk yield (414.1±47.19ml) than the Sahelian dams (203.2±46.61ml). Similarly, breed and type of supplementation fed showed significant difference (P<0.005) on milk yield. Red Sokoto dams fed concentrate produced more milk (555.1±64.92ml) than Sahelian fed concentrate (295.2±69.51ml) or groundnut haulms (111.4±69.51ml). Also in comparing the kid growth performance between on-farm and onstation, The average daily gain of kids was 112.9g± 0.53 was significantly influenced by week of lactation, while dam lost an average of 11.7±0.65g indicating that kids managed on farm were heavier than those on station. However dam on-station lost less weight than those on-farms. The result showed that supplementation of grazing does with diets of protein source irrespective of management will improve milk yield and that heavier dams supported better kid growth.

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