THE PERFORMANCE OF DJALLONKE SHEEP FED ON DIETS CONTAINING VARIOUS PROPORTIONS OF COCOA POD HUSK AND 5-PERCENT NAOH-TREATED MAIZE COBS

In three experiments five diets which contained O, 150, 300, 450 and 6 00 g kg-1 of cocoa pod husk (CPH) and 600, 450, 300, 150 and 0 g kg-1 of treated maize cobs were evaluated. The other ingredients were wheat bran, cotton seed cake, dicalcium phosphate, NaCl and a trace mineral and vitamin premix. The ingredients were milled through a 6 mm sieve. In the first experiment (growth rate studies) 50 yearling Djallonke fe males weighing 5-13 kg were allocated randomly to the five diets, and dry matter intake, body-weight gain and feed conversion efficiency wer e determined. In a second experiment (metabolism studies) five young w eaned Djallonke ram lambs weighing 5-11 kg were fed on each of the fiv e diets in a Latin-square design. Feed intake, apparent digestibility coefficients of dry matter and organic matter and digestible dry matte r and digestible organic matter intakes were measured. In a third expe riment, the diets were also given to five fistulated adult wethers (Dj allonke x Sahel) in a Latin-square design, and rumen pH was measured f rom 1 to 12 h and also 24 h after feeding. In the growth rate studies, dry matter intake significantly (P<0.01) increased from 73 g kg-1 W0. 75 to a maximum of 101 g kg-1 W0.75 as the proportion of CPH increased from 0 to 600 g kg-1 diet, but growth rates (ranging from 37 to 55 g per day) and feed conversion efficiency were not significantly affecte d by dietary treatments. In the metabolism studies, feed intake increa sed with increasing levels of CPH in the diet, but intakes of digestib le dry matter and digestible organic matter were not significantly aff ected by the dietary treatments. The apparent digestibility coefficien ts of dry matter and organic matter were significantly affected by the dietary treatments, with increased in CPH level reducing the values. The rumen pH, although low perhaps because of the grinding of the ingr edients, was not the cause of the low digestibility of the CPH-contain ing diets.