Maize and amaranth forages, produced during the wet season, have the potential to bridge the gap in forage supply to ruminants during the dry season in Nigeria. In two growing seasons (2006 and 2007), effects of intercropping and fertilizer application on dry matter (DM) yield and chemical composition of forages, and land use efficiency, were studied in two experiments. The digestibility of sun-dried or ensiled maize, amaranth or maize-amaranth mixtures was measured using West African dwarf sheep in a third experiment. Maize showed a higher response to fertilizer application than amaranth or maize-amaranth mixtures. With fertilizer application, DM yield varied significantly (P < 0AE05) between species and intercropped mixtures. Dry matter yield ranged from 7AE1 (amaranth) to 12AE6 t ha )1 (maize) in 2006 and 6AE9 (amaranth) to 11AE3 t ha )1 (70:30 maize-amaranth population mixture) in 2007. Crude protein (CP) concentration of whole plants ranged from 99AE0 (maize) to 227AE0 g kg )1 DM (amaranth). Dry matter digestibility values of sun-dried maize, sun-dried maize:amaranth 50:50 mixture, sun-dried amaranth, ensiled maize, ensiled maize:amaranth 50:50 mixture and ensiled amaranth were 0AE718, 0AE607, 0AE573, 0AE737, 0AE553 and 0AE526 respectively. Intercropping increased forage yield and land use efficiency compared to amaranth but had no yield advantage over maize. Although DM digestibility of maize was higher than that of amaranth or the maize:amaranth mixture, digestible CP yield ha )1 was higher with amaranth in the cropping mixture, showing that amaranth could complement maize in systems where CP is the limiting factor to livestock production.

Pregnancy diagnosis is an important part of good management and helps to maximizereproductive performance. Over time, different methods for detection of pregnancy in cows and other female domestic animals have been developed which include observation, physical examination, chemical tests and electronic instruments. Seed germination inhibition technique was carried out to detect pregnancy in Zebu cows. The urine samples collected from four pregnant cows, four non pregnant cows, four bulls and water (control) were subjected to seed germination test using maize seeds. Urine was collected between 5 and 7 am. Pregnant cows were confirmed by rectal palpation. The pH of the urine samples was determined before and after dilution and consequently, the urea concentration was also analyzed in the laboratory. The urine was diluted at the ratio of 1:4 with distilled water. Control test was also carried out with the addition of water only to the maize seeds. In each sterile Petri dish fifteen maize seeds were taken on the filter paper and 15mL of diluted urine was added. The seed germination inhibition percentages were observed after five days while shoot length growth inhibition was also observed after five days. Germination inhibition percentage of pregnant cows (64.16%) was significantly (P<0.05) higher compared to nonpregnant cows (34.18%), bull urine and water control. Shoot length of seeds germinated with distilled water had the highest value (4.38cm), seeds germinated with bull urine and non pregnant cow urine showed similarities while seeds germinated with pregnant cow urine had the least value (1.37cm) across the observations for shoot length growth inhibition. The result on pH showed clear differences in the pH of urine from pregnant (8.11- 8.25), non pregnant cows (6.05-7.04) and bull urine (6.35-7.34). The pH of the urine samples for nonpregnant cow and bull urine samples were similar to that of the control. Urea concentration of pregnant cow urine (11.06 mg/dL) was higher than that observed in bull urine 4.56 mg/dL and non pregnant cow urine 1.39 mg/dL. The study was able to validate that at 60% and above inhibition there is an indication of pregnancy while inhibition less than 60% shows the cow is non pregnant. Increased mean germination inhibition percentage and reduced shoot length in pregnant cow urine were indicative of pregnancy state.

Scarcity of quality forage during the dry season poses a serious problem to ruminant production in southwest Nigeria. Dried sweet potato (SP) vine and root have the potential to bridge the gap in feed supply for ruminants during this period. In a feeding trial, fifteen male West African dwarf (WAD) sheep were used to estimate the nutritive value of SP forage and root as a basat feed for ruminants during the dry season. Experimental diets consisted of SP forage and root in the following proportions, 0:100, 25:75, 50:50, 75:25, and 100:0 (forage. root). In the first part of the trial, growing WAD sheep were fed experimental diets for twenty weeks. Dry matter (DM) intake and growth rate of the animals were measured in the second part, digestibility and nitrogen balance of sheep fed the experimental diets were measured. Intake, growth rate, digestibility and nitrogen retention improved significantly (P < 0.05) when SP forage and root were mixed in the diet. The DM intake ranged from 1.8 to 4.9% body weight; growth rate, -34.1 to 86.43 g/day; DM digestibility, 64.6 to 70.4%; and nitrogen retained, 29.5 to 51.0%. Performance, digestibility and nitrogen utilization of WAD sheep was highest when SP forage and root formed equal proportions (50:50) in the diet. Mixing SP forage and root in the diet proved beneficial to growing sheep and equal proportions of the forage and root in the diet appear to be the most appropriate combination.

Year-round availability of feed is a major concern for dairy farmers in many parts of the tropics. Silage making is a reliable means of providing feed for dairy cattle during periods of forage scarcity. In this study, Elephant grass (EG) (Pennisetum purpureum) was ensiled with cassava peel (CSP) at 0, 10, 30 and 50% levels of inclusion on a wet basis. At 21, 42 and 63 days of ensiling, silage samples were taken for chemical analysis and the remaining materials were fed to four lactating Sokoto Gudali cows for a period of 84 days using a Latin square design. Dry matter (DM) content of silage mixtures increased from 18.22 to 28.70% as level of CSP in the silage mixture increased while crude protein (7.33 to 6.08%) and crude fibre (32.80 to 23.95%) decreased. Dry matter intake of cows, milk yield and feed conversion ratio (FCR) varied (P < 0.05) with inclusion of cassava peel in the silage mixtures. Dry matter intake of cows increased from 2.56 to 3.84% of body weight (BW) and milk yield from 2.90 to 6.70 kg/d as proportion of CSP in the grass silage increased. Feed conversion ratio of cows ranged from 2.08 to 3.23 and improved with inclusion of CSP in the silage. These results show that addition of cassava peel to Elephant grass silage improved intake and milk production in Sokoto Gudali cows fed Elephant grass silage.

A total of twelve West African Dwarf goats of an average liveweight of 9.5 ± 0.5 kg in a completely randomized design were allocated to three dietary treatments to determine the intake, acceptability and digestibility of ensiled mixtures of corncobs (CC), cassava peels (CSP) and brewers' grain (WBG). The ensiled dietary treatments were: CC/CSP, CC/WBG and CC/CSP/WB. The goats were offered the diets in a cafeteria system for the evaluation of their preferences. The Results show that the combination of corncobs with brewers' grain recorded the highest crude protein (22.06%) and least crude fibre (18.11%) values. Although, the Coefficient of Preference (CoP) was not up to unity, the highest acceptability value (0.93) was obtained for CC/CSP/WB. Significant differences were observed in dry matter intake among the treatments with goat fed diet CC/WBG having the highest value (247.49g/hd/d). Dry matter and neutral detergent fibre digestibilities were significantly (p<0.05) different among the treatments. However, no significant difference (p>0.05) was observed in crude protein digestibility values. The results of this study showed that ensiling CC with CSP or WBG or with the combination of CSP and WBG can enhance the utilization of corncobs as feed for goat.