Effects of groundnut haulms supplementation on millet stover intake, digestibility and growth performance of lambs

Supplementing millet stover (MS) with groundnut haulms (GH), millet bran (MB) and wheat bran (WB) can improve its nutritional value and promote live weight (LW) gain of sheep. The purpose of this study was to develop a MS supplementation strategy for smallholder farmers. For 66 d, effects of GH, MB and WB supplementation on MS intake and growth performance of lambs were assessed, after which digestibility was determined over 14 d. Four levels of GH (0, 200, 400, and 600 g) and two others (600 g GH + 100 g MB) and (600 g GH + 75 g WB) were described as GH0, GH200, GH400, GH600, GHMB and GHWB, respectively. GH supplementation had a positive linear effect (P<0.01) on dry matter (DM) and N intake of MS, but MS intake decreased (P<0.05), while DM intake increased (P<0.01), with increasing levels of GH. Millet bran increased intake of DM (P<0.05), organic matter (OM) (P<0.05) and N (P<0.01), while WB increased intake of MS (P<0.05), DM (P<0.05), OM (P<0.01), N (P<0.001) and fibre (P<0.05). GH supplementation had a positive linear effect on digestibility of DM, fibre and N. GH also had a positive linear effect (P<0.001) on LW gain and feed conversion efficiency. The maximum average daily LW gain (80.5 g/d) was with GHWB followed by GHMB (68 g/d). Sheep fed GH0 lost LW (19.1 g/d). Supplementation of MS with GH and either of the brans improved digestibility and intakes of DM, OM, fibre and N. The LW gain and feed conversion efficiency (FCE) also increased when WB was added. It is suggested that, in the dry season, it is practical to supplement sheep with low levels (i.e., 200 g) of GH to support moderate LW gain or with 600 g GH + 75 g WB to support high LW gain.