1. Effects of drying or ensiling groundnut haulms on growth performance of sheep
Addah, W., Deku, G. and Ayantunde, A. A.
University for Development Studies

2. Outline of this presentation
Slide 3-6: Introduction & objective
Slide 7-8: Research approach
Slide 9-12: Main results & discussion
Slide 13: Conclusion

3. Conservation of crop residues
Drying on the farm field: “Bad” Practice
High leaf & leaching losses

4. Conservation of crop residues
Drying on a shed: “very good”
Minimal leaf and leaching losses (Antwi et al., 2010)

5. Conservation of crop residues
Controlled drying: “better” practice
Excessive drying: Volatilization of nutrients
Inadequate drying: Deterioration in storage

6. Ensiling: “best” practice

7. The hay and silage were used to formulate 2 diets
Table 1. Ingredient composition diets made of hay or silage
Ingredient (g/kg)
Hay
Silage
Whole cotton seed
200
Rice bran
150
Corn chaff
450
Ensiled groundnut haulm -
Dried groundnut haulm

8. Proximate analysis of diets Chemical analyses of silage/hay
Laboratory analyses
Proximate analysis of diets
Chemical analyses of silage/hay
Microbial analyses of silage/hay
for:
Lactic acid producing bacteria
Yeasts populations
Moulds populations
Chemical analyses
Microbial analyses

9. Table 1: Nutrient composition (mean ± SD) of diets
Item
Hay diet
Silage diet
Dry matter
830.1 ± 40.4
847.5 ± 37.3
Crude protein
88.5 ± 35.4
108.3 ± 18.4
Crude fat
70 ±0.3
80 ± 11.6
Neutral detergent fibre
445.0 ± 86.7
470 ± 11.7
Acid detergent fibre
352.0 ± 113.3
225 ± 86.6
ME (MJ/kg DM)1
9.0 ± 1.99
10.1 ± 0.04
1ME (MJ/kg DM) = 0.31crude protein crude fat crude fibre nitrogen free extract (Ellis, 1980).

10. Table 2. Chemical and microbial compositions of groundnut haulm conserved as hay or silage
Item (mean ± SD)
Unensiled haulm
Conserved haulm
Hay
Ensiled pH
6.5 ± 0.6
6.7 ± 0.09
5.2 ± 0.08
Chemical composition (g/kg DM)
WSC (mg/kg)
21.4 ± 03.6
19.1 ± 0.9
17.3 ± 1.1
Ammonia-N (g/kg of total N)
16.1 ± 0.2
70.6 ± 0.1
170.3 ± 0.2
Lactic acid (g/kg DM) ND
9.5 ± 1.3
16.5 ± 0.2
Microbial populations (Log10 CFU/g DM)
Lactic acid bacteria
4.6 ± 0.6
5.8 ± 0.4
6.6 ± 0.2
Moulds
3.7 ± 1.9
6.0 ± 1.3
7.1 ± 1.0
Yeasts
4.9 ± 2.1
6.5 ± 0.8
7.2 ± 1.0
ND, below limits of quantification

11. ````````````````````````
Table 3. DMI growth performance of sheep (n = 10) fed groundnut haulm hay or silage diets
Item
Rations
````````````````````````
Hay
Silage
SEM
P value
Initial weight (kg)
15.2
14.5
0.96
0.618
Final weight (kg)
17.4
16.0
0.34
0.012
Total weight gain (kg)
2.5
1.2
ADG (g/d)
81.8
38.8
10.82
DM intake (g/d)
782.2
664.3
42.82
0.069
Feed efficiency (ADG/DM intake)
0.10
0.05
0.019
0.053
ADG: average daily gain`````````````````

12. Fermentation quality of haulms
Silage
Hay
Plate 1. Poorly fermented silage vs hay can reduce DM intake

13. Conclusion
Silage fermentation characteristics
Silage was poorly fermented largely because of lower concentration of WSC for fermentation (Muck, 1998; Addah et al., 2012) and silo management
Hay had a higher retention of leaves and was well dried
Greater feed intake and growth performance for hay compared silage may be due to the poor fermentation of the haulms compared to the hay.
Additional sugars could be added to haulms to improve fermentation
Where the weather conditions are favourable, drying is preferable unless sugar is added before ensiling
Growth performance

14. Discussions?

15. Fig. 1. Growth pattern of sheep fed hay- or silage diets

16. Table 2. Ingredient and chemical compositions of total mixed rations containing groundnut haulm conserved as hay or silage
Item (g/kg DM)
Hay
Silage
Ingredient composition
Corn chaff
450
Rice bran
150
Whole cotton seed1
200
Ensiled groundnut haulm -
Dry groundnut haulm
Chemical composition (mean ± SD)1
Dry matter
830.1 ± 40.4
847.5 ± 37.3
Crude protein
88.5 ± 35.4
108.3 ± 18.4
Crude fat
70 ±0.3
80 ± 11.6
Crude fibre
327.3 ± 82.3
300.9 ± 76.3
Nitrogen free extract
284 ± 93.2
306 ± 60.1
Ash
60 ± 5.8
53 ± 14.5
Neutral detergent fibre
445.0 ± 86.7
470 ± 11.7
Acid detergent fibre
352.0 ± 113.3
225 ± 86.6
ME (MJ/kg DM)2
9.0 ± 1.99
10.1 ± 0.04
Whole crop groundnut haulm was ensiled for 171 d in bag (23 x 34 x 56 m) silos whereas hay was initial field-cured for 6 d and then stored unprotected for addition 130 d
1Whole cotton seed was treated with 1% (fresh basis) saline solution
2ME (MJ/kg DM) = 0.31crude protein crude fat crude fibre nitrogen free extract (Ellis, 1980).