Nutrient and cell wall fraction digestibility of growing WAD ewe fed Mexican sunflower leaf meal (MSLM) based diets

After a previous 84-d performance phase on growing WAD ewe, Studies was conducted using sixteen West African dwarf (WAD) ewe-lambs weighing between 17.50 and 17.88kg on a basal diet of Panicum maximum were allotted into 4 treatment groups A, B, C and D of 4 replicates each. The MSL replaced Wheat bran (WB) gravimetrically at 0, 15, 30 and 45%. Treatment A served as control. The experiment lasted for one week. Digestibility was determined using a 6-d total fecal collection. Ewes were given ad libitum access to feed and water. Parameters measured were voluntary dry matter intake (VDMI), which comprised concentrate dry matter intake (CDMI) and grass dry matter intake (GDMI), Apparent Digestibility Coefficients of DM, CP, NDF, ADF, ADL, Organic matter (OM) and Energy . Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and ANOVA .The VDMI (g/d) varied from 392.30 - 695.00, CDMI (g/d) varied from 181.80 - 536.80 and GDMI (g/d) varied from 130.65 - 215.95 for ewe-lambs. Apparent Digestibility Coefficients of NDF, ADF, ADL, organic matter (OM) and Energy were similar. Approximately 75.5 ±1.1% of the VDMI came from the supplement. Diets containing 15% MSLM was superior to others for CDMI (181.80 – 536.80 g/day), CP intake (17.72 – 32.40 g/day/kgW0.75), Digestible DMI (49.45 - 80.68 g/day/kgW0.75) and Digestible CPI (13.68 - 27.16 g/day/kgW0.75) while GDMI (130.65 – 215.95 g/day) for diets containing 30% and 45% MSLM were significant (p < 0.05). Inclusion of up to 45% Mexican Sunflower Leaf in the diets of growing ewe to replace Wheat bran was adequate.