Effects of Urea-Treated Sorghum Stover On Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, Haematology and Serum Biochemistry Fed West African Dwarf Grower Bucks

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@article{1724748,
      author = {Emiola C. B., Oladepo O., Omojowo D. D., Ojelere I. M., Balogun S. O.; Adebayo T. D.},
      title = {Effects of Urea-Treated Sorghum Stover On Growth Performance, Nutrient Digestibility, Haematology and Serum Biochemistry Fed West African Dwarf Grower Bucks},
      journal = {Iconic Research And Engineering Journals},
      year = {2026},
      volume = {10},
      number = {5},
      pages = {2196-2202},
      issn = {2456-8880},
      url = {https://www.irejournals.com/formatedpaper/1724748.pdf},
      abstract = {This study evaluated the combined Growth, Nutrient Digestibility, Haematological and Serum biochemical responses of West African Dwarf (WAD) grower bucks fed varying levels of urea-treated sorghum stover. Fifteen healthy bucks aged 6–7 months, with an average initial body weight of approximately 6.8 kg, were allocated to five treatments in a completely randomized design, with three animals per treatment. The dietary treatments comprised 0%, 1%, 2%, 3% and 4% urea-treated sorghum stover (T1–T5), offered with a basal concentrate diet. Following a 14-day acclimatization period, the feeding trial lasted 28 days, followed by a 7-day digestibility trial. Growth, apparent nutrient digestibility, haematological indices and serum biochemical parameters were assessed. Data were analysed using one-way analysis of variance, with Duncan’s Multiple Range Test used to compare means at P < 0.05. T2 (1% inclusion) produced the highest total weight gain (0.53 kg), average daily gain (18.93 g/day), weekly gain (132.50 g/week) and the lowest feed conversion ratio (21.45). T3 (2%) had the highest feed intake (12.43 kg), crude fibre digestibility (74.58%) and carbohydrate digestibility (83.28%), whereas T4 (3%) recorded the highest dry matter digestibility (72.97%) and crude protein digestibility (78.59%). Haematological values were generally most favourable at T2, including packed cell volume (33%), haemoglobin (10.9 g/dL), red blood cell count (13.1 × 10⁶/µL), white blood cell count (96.60 × 10³/µL) and platelet count (166 × 10³/µL). Serum total protein and albumin were highest in the control, while blood urea nitrogen and alkaline phosphatase were highest at 4% inclusion. Therefore, 1% inclusion gave the most favourable combined growth and haematological response in this dataset, although the serum biochemical responses were not linear across treatments. These findings support further evaluation of urea-treated sorghum stover as a locally available feed resource for WAD bucks.},
      keywords = {West African Dwarf goats, urea-treated sorghum stover, growth performance, nutrient digestibility, haematology, serum biochemistry},
      month = {November},
  }