Influence of Cobalt Supplementation on Feed Intake Nutrient Digestibility and Body Weight Change in Goats Fed Corncob-Based Diet.

A 12-week feeding trial was conducted to study the response of West African Male Dwarf goats to a corncobbased diet supplemented with varied levels (0.00, 0.50, 0.75 mg/kg DM) of cobalt chloride. Twelve West African Dwarf goats of similar body weights (8.48 ± 1.24 kg) were allotted to three dietary groups, each of four replicates in a randomized complete block design experiment. The goats were kept on corncob-based concentrate diet (ad libitum) with unrestricted access to clean drinking water throughout the period of the feeding trial. The study examined the effects of treatments on feed intake, dry matter and nutrients digestibility, feed conversion efficiency and body weight gain in the goats. Results from the study showed that the corncob-based concentrate diet was acceptable to the goats and resulted in moderate (p>0.05) body weight gain (20.24, 19.40 and 20.09 g/head day for goats fed 0.00, 0.50 and 0.75 mg cobalt chloride/kg DM respectively). Crude fiber digestibility (%) increased (p<0.05) from 63.27 in the control group to 70.47 in goats fed cobalt chloride supplement at 0.75 mg/kg DM. Feed conversion ratio was slightly (p>0.05) improved in goats that received the 0.75 mg cobalt/kg DM treatment (11.53) over the control group (12.14). No significant difference (p>0.05) was observed between dietary groups for parameters evaluated other the crude fiber digestibility. It was concluded that cobalt chloride dietary supplement at 0.75 mg/kg DM level enhanced digestibility of crude fiber in corncob-based concentrate diet for West African Dwarf goats.