Animal Nutrition and Feed Technology
Year : 2009, Volume : 9, Issue : 1
First page : ( 73) Last page : ( 79)
Print ISSN : 0972-2963.

Protein and Energy Requirements of Weaner Grasscutters

Adeniji A.A.

Department of Animal Science, University of Abuja, Abuja, Nigeria.

Reprint request: Dr. A.A. Adeniji, E-mail: feyidot@yahoo.com

Received:  18  December,  2007.

Abstract

Fifty-four 8-weeks old weaner grasscutters were used to investigate the effect of feeding varying protein (14, 16 and 18%) and ME (2400, 2600 and 2800 kcal/kg) levels in diets on the performance of fed animals. There was no significant effect (P>0.05) of treatments on weight gain, feed intake, feed to gain ratio and cost per kilogram of body weight of the grasscutters during the eight weeks experimental period. The nitrogen digestibility varied significantly (P<0.05) with both the protein and energy levels. The results showed that 14, 16 and 18% protein levels were comparable but the 18% protein level tended to be the best for it had the lowest feed to gain ratio (6.84 vs. 7.63 and 7.12). Likewise, of the three levels of ME evaluated, the 2800 kcal ME/kg diet tended to be the best for weaner grasscutters especially in terms of feed to gain ratio. Hence, 18% CP and 2800 kcal ME/kg is recommended for weaner grasscutters.

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Keywords

Weaner, Grasscutter, Protein, Energy, Requirements.

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