Biochemical Profiling of the Values of Dry Season Feed Resources in Pastoralcattle Environment in Nigeria

The objective of the study was to evaluate the chemical composition of the most cherished crop residues, browses and water resources for cattle production during the dry season in Adamawa State, North-Eastern Nigeria. The identification of feed and water resources were done by questionnaires, interview and direct field observation. The most cherished feed resources from each location were collected and used for proximate analysis and fibre partitioning. Water samples were collected at random from three (3) different sources (hand pump borehole, well and stream) across the State for chemical analysis. The results of proximate composition and fiber partition of the most preferred crop residues at the study locationsshow high mean DM at 94.90±0.92%, with a range of 93.7 96.2%, indicating that the materials are very dry and that animals consuming them will require high water supplementation.The mean crude fibre (CF) was 37.98±7.82%, with maize straw recording the highest value of 45.5%, while the range was between 26.1 to 45.3%. The mean ether extract (EE) value stood at 1.70±0.30% with a range of 1.30 2.10%, indicating very low EE values of these crop residues.The mean ash value of 10.64±2.04 was high, with values ranging from 8.9 to 10.7%. The results showed mean nitrogen free extract (NFE) of 48.10±7.82% with a range of 35.4 to 56.5%, indicating high carbohydrate content although most of it may not be available to the animals due to rapid lignifications that accompany maturation of the straws.The mean neutral detergent fibre (NDF) of the crop residues was 55.62±11.86% with a range of 45.7% recorded by groundnut haulm to 75.5% recorded by maize straw.The mean acid detergent fiber (ADF) was 42.14±9.55%, with values ranging from 34.8 to 57.7%. The mean ADL was 5.78±3.26, with a range of 3.2 to 9.4%. Lignin is the prime factor influencing the digestibility of plant cell wall material.The results showed the mean HEM of 13.48±3.22%, with a range of 10.90 to17.80%, indicating that maize and sorghum straws have much higher digestible carbohydrates than the other crop residues. The mean DM content of the most preferred browses during dry season was 89.78±3.99% with the range of 84.90 to 94.24%. The mean crude protein of the preferred browse plants was 13.96±3.08% with a range of 9.35 16.73%. The mean crude fiber content of the browses was 26.93±3.45%. Panicum maximum recorded the highest crude fibre (CF) content of 32.50% followed by Mangiferaindica with 27.46%, while Khayasenegalensis had the lowest CF of 23.53%. The results of mean ether extract (EE) was 5.52±1.56%, withKhayasenegalensis having the highest value of 6.72%, followed by Balaniteaegyptica with 6.71%, while the lowest value of 2.89% was recorded by Panicum maximum.The mean ash value of the browse plants was 10.41±1.97%, with a range of 7.74 13.25%. Mangiferaindica had the highest value of 13.25% followed by Khayasenegalensis with 10.70% and the least value of 7.74% was recorded by Tamarinaeindica.The mean nitrogen free extract (NFE) was 49.66±1.87%, with a range of 47.67 52.45%. Panicum maximum recorded the highest value of 52.45% followed by Balaniteaegyptica with 50.23%, with Tamarinaeindica having the least value of 47.67%. Crop residue had significantly (p<0.05) higher DM, CF and NDF compared to browses. While, browses had significantly (p<0.05) higher CP, EE, ADL and HEM than crop residues, indicating that browses may be the best stable feed that could be used for nutritional intervention during the critical periods of dry season when forage grasses have been grazed to defund and crop residues have lost most of their nutrients.The concentration of chemicals in the water from the hand dug wells were higher than that of streams and the hand pump operated borehole water. However, the results were within the World Health Organization’s (WHO) permissible values. Therefore, it was deduced that, the water sources in the study area are of good quality, safe and recommended for livestock and human consumption.