Utilization of palm kernel meal by sheep

Journal of Applied Animal Research;5(1): 1-11

Yankasa sheep were used to study effects of palm kernel meal (PKM) on nutrient utilization and performance. The - in sacco - degradation studies revealed that potential protein degradation in the rumen was high but the very low rate of degradation (0.031 (per hour)) made 50-61 percent protein of PKM undegradable in the rumen. In experiment 1 (62 days), 5 isoenergetic and isonitrogenous diets containing 0, 20, 35, 50 and 65 percent PKM were fed to growing rams. In experiment 2, PKM substituted all the cottonseed cake (CSC) and 0, 33, 66 and 100 percent of maize giving diets containing 0, 49, 70 and 90 percent PKM. In both experiments average daily gain, DM intake, feed conversion efficiency and DM digestibility were not significantly affected. Higher values of some carcass characteristics in favour of PKM diets reflected higher weight at slaughter. Cost of the diets decreased with increasing level of PKM making it economically attractive to use PKM in the diet of sheep.