Evaluation Of Neem Leaf Meal As A Protein Source For Sheep On Low Quality Forage

Abstract

In Ghana the dominant sheep breed is the West African Dwarf Sheep (Djallonké). It is trypanotolerant, hardy, prolific and suitable for year round breeding but has its productivity to be less than optimal. Due to poor nutrition it has poor growth rate and reproductive performance. Therefore it is important to improve its nutrition and productivity. With a crude protein level of 20.9% as compared to other tree leaves, Neem leaves can be included in the diets of ruminants in the form of supplements. This study was undertaken to determine the effect of neem leaf meal (NLM) supplementation on the Djallonke sheep (WAD). Two experiments were conducted. The first experiment was a preference trial to ascertain the maximum acceptable level of inclusion of NLM in the test supplement. Four male sheep with mean body weight of 16.6±1.50kg were used for the preference trial. Each sheep was offered four different supplements containing 0 % (Control), 20%, 40% and 60% Neem Leaf Meal (NLM) at the same time for an hour and a basal diet of rice straw and water at ad libitum. The second experiment was to determine the effect of replacing SBM with NLM in supplements on feed intake, digestibility of the diet, growth, feed conversion efficiency of sheep and blood parameters. Twenty (20) sheep with mean body weight of 14.6 kg were allotted to four treatments in a randomized complete design. Five animals (3 males and two females) were allotted to each treatment. Sheep in T1, T2, T3 and T4 group were fed supplements containing 0 % (Control), 20%, 30% and 40% Neem Leaf Meal (NLM) respectively and a basal diet of rice straw and water at ad libitum. Sheep weights and blood samples were taken fortnightly. In experiment one, there was a significant difference (P<0.05) in the acceptability of the supplement. Supplement 1(0% NML) was the highest followed by supplement 2 (20% NLM), then supplements 3 (40% NLM) and then supplement 4 (60% NLM). In experiment two, dry matter intake (DMI), Crude Protein intake (CP), Neutral Detergent Fibre intake (NDF) and Acid detergent fibre intake (ADF) had significant differences (P<0.05) among the treatments. The dry matter digestibility (DMD), Crude Protein digestibility (CPD) Neutral Detergent Fibre digestibility and Acid Detergent Fibre digestibility (ADF) also had significant differences (P<0.05) among the treatments. There was significant difference (P<0.05) in the average daily gain and feed conversion efficiency of sheep among the treatments. The Haemoglobin (Hb), Packed Cell Volume (PCV), Red Blood Cells (RBC) and White Blood Cells (WBC) were similar (P>0.05) across the treatments. The results from the study suggest that NLM supplement is acceptable to WAD sheep up to 40% level but acceptability declined with increasing level of NLM. This could be due to the bitter taste of neem leaves. NLM helps to increase dry matter intake and digestibility of rice straw when offered as a supplement in the dry season. NLM also helps to maintain the weight of WAD sheep during the dry season. West African Dwarf Sheep supplemented on 40% NLM were able to efficiently convert their feed better than WAD sheep supplemented on 30% and 20% NLM. NLM has no effect on the Hb, PCV, RBC and WBC in WAD sheep fed NLM as a supplement.