Nutrient Degradability and Performance by the West African Dwarf Goats Fed Rumen Epithelium-based Diets

Nutritive value of Rumen Epithelial Scraping (REP) was assessed using in sacco and in vivo procedures. Concentrates were so formulated that 0% (A), 35% (B), 70% (C), and 100% (D) of Soybean Meal (SBM), were replaced (weight for weight) with REP. In a completely randomized design, 16 West African Dwarf (WAD) goats were randomly allocated to the experimental diets to assess feed intake and digestibility. In a second trial, the concentrates, SBM and the REP were degraded in the rumen of fistulated goats to determine Dry Matter (DM) and Crude Protein (CP) degradability. No significant difference (P< 0.05) was observed in DM and CP consumption of goats on the various dietary treatments. The variation observed for digestible DM and CP among diets were significant (P< 0.05). The highest value of digestibility coefficients of DM and CP were observed in diet B (77.72% and 79.2% respectively). There were significant differences observed (P< 0.05) in the DM and CP degradation characteristics of the different samples incubated in the rumen of goats. Rumen epithelial waste contained more soluble fractions (30.13% DM and 71.04% CP) than soybean meal (29.82% DM and 18.6% CP), and it was shown that increasing REP in the concentrate increases the soluble DM and CP (P< 0.05). The results indicated that REP is nutritive and can replace SBM at reasonable levels in goat production enterprise.