Voluntary intake and in vivo digestibility of four groundnut haulms varieties measured on Djallonké sheep in Benin

Abstract

In Benin, fodder and crop residues are often used to fatten sheep. However, the quantities of ingested dry matter and their digestibility are not well documented. This study aimed to determine dry matter intake and in vivo digestibility of groundnut haulms in Djallonké sheep. Thus, eight sheep, weighting 15.3 ± 0.97kg were fed on four varieties of groundnut haulms (TS 32-1, ICGV SM 85045, 69-101, Moto Local). The experimental design used was a double latin square. The experiment was carried out through four periods of two phases each. Each period lasted 21 days of which 15 days for adaptation and 6 days for data collection. The 69-101 had the highest contents total crude protein (TCP) (13.5%) and energy (0.52 UFL and 0.39 UFV). However, its contents in parietal constituents (50.9% for NDF and 46.7% for ADF) were low. The daily quantities of ingested dry matter of 69-101 (73.1 g /LW0.75), TS32-1 (72.6 g /LW0.75), ICGV SM85045 (70 g /LW0.75) and Moto Local (69.6 g /LW0.75) varieties were not different. The apparent digestibility of DM, OM and TCP of 69-101 were better than those of the other varieties. The apparent digestibility of NDF and ADF did not vary according to groundnut haulm varieties. The 69-101 is the variety with the best nutritional values. However, weight performances results of the four haulms varieties were not significantly different. The evaluation of the four groundnut haulms varieties allow to accept any of them as forage source for fattening or growing sheep.