Effects of dietary levels of roasted flamboyant (<i>Delonix regia</i>) seed meal on milk quality and yield form Savanna Brown does

Abstract

A study was conducted to observe the effects of diets containing varying levels of roasted Delonix regia seed meal on the milk quality and milk yield from Savanna brown does using fifteen nulliparous does. The animals were allotted to five treatment groups of three replicates each in a completely randomized design and fed isocaloric and isonitrogenous treatment diets designated T₁, T₂, T₃, T₄ and T₅ which had the groundnut cake component substituted with Delonix regia seed meal at 0 %, 25 %, 50 %, 75 % and 100 % respectively. Data on milk quality and yield were collected and subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA) and the differences between the means were separated using the Duncan’s Multiple Range Test. The results obtained showed that animals fed diets with 50 % of groundnut cake replaced with roasted Delonix regia seed meal performed better with respect to all the milk parameters evaluated, with a decline in these parameters at dietary levels above 50 %. It was concluded that feeding diets having 50 % replacement level of groundnut cake with roasted Delonix regia seed meal is a nutritionally effective means of improving the performance of does in terms of the performance parameters so evaluated.

Key words: Delonix regia, savanna brown does, milk quality