Effects of replacing maize offal with high levels of yam peels on the performance and nutrient digestibility of red Sokoto bucks.

Sixteen red Sokoto (RS) bucks having an average weight of 9.11 kg and aged 5-8 months were used to determine the performance and digestibility of diets containing graded levels of yam peel meal in a completely randomized design. Four diets were compounded to replace maize offal with yam peel meal (YPM) at 0% (T1), 50% (T2), 75% (T2), and 100% (T4) levels and fed to the red Sokoto bucks for 105 days. Results show that there was no effect of treatment on all the performance parameters measured. There was also no effect of treatment on dry matter, organic matter, crude protein, nitrogen free extract, and ether extract digestibility of RS bucks. The cell wall constituents showed treatment effects on acid detergent fiber, acid detergent lignin, and cellulose. The nutrient intake values for the proximate composition were similar across the treatments. However, ether extract (EE) values decreased significantly (P < 0.05) from T1 to T4 as the levels of YPM increased in the diets. Ash values on the other hand increased significantly (P < 0.05) from T1 to T4 with increasing levels of YPM. The neutral detergent fiber (NDF) intake value for the control (T1) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than the other treatments, but there was no significant difference between T2, T3, and T4. The study has shown that YPM can be used to replace maize offal up to 100% without adverse effect on the growth performance and digestibility of red Sokoto goats.