Evaluation of silage from maize stover, maize husk and Andropogon gayanus in equal level with Tephrosia bracteolata as feed for West African Dwarf sheep.

The study investigated the nutritive composition as well as acceptability of ensiled roughages comprising Andropogon gayanus (AG), maize husk (MH), maize stover (MS) and their mixtures in equal proportion with Tephrosia bracteolata (TB) by West African Dwarf (WAD) sheep. Seven treatment diets were formulated comprising AG: 100% Andropogon gayanus, MH: 100% maize husk, MS: 100% maize stover, TB: 100% Tephrosia bracteolata, AG + TB: 50% Andropogon gayanus + 50% Tephrosia bracteolata, MS + TB: 50% maize husk + 50% Tephrosia bracteolata, MS + TB: 50% maize stover + 50% Tephrosia bracteolata. The experiment was completely randomized in design. Significant variations were observed in the chemical composition of the plant materials before and after ensiling. It was revealed that Tephrosia bracteolata, prior to ensiling, had the highest crude protein (CP) content, lowest crude fibre (CF), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL). Similar trend was observed in the chemical composition of Tephrosia bracteolata after ensiling. Inclusion of Tephrosia bracteolata in the roughages improved their nutritional quality. All the silage treatments presented good physical characteristics. The acceptability of the silage by 12 WAD sheep ranked thus: TB > MS + TB > AG + TB > AG > MS > MH + TB > MH. Silage digestibility was highest (66.60%) in TB, closely followed by MH + TB (62.67%) and least in MS. It was concluded that WAD sheep production could be enhanced by feeding ensiled maize plant residues alone or in combination with Tephrosia bracteolata during the lean season.