Abstract
The study was carried out to determine the performance and economics of production of West African Dwarf (WAD) bucks fed raw and differently processed Coelocaryon preussii seed meals. Sixteen (16) West African Dwarf (WAD) bucks aged between 6 and 9 months with mean live weight of 6.57 + 0.92kg were allocated to four dietary treatments with four replicates of one goat per replicate. The experiments were carried out in a completely randomized design. The treament diets were: T1 (0% Coelocaryon preussii seed meal), T2 (5% raw Coelocaryon preussii seed meal), T3 (5% soaked Coelocaryon preussii seed meal) and T4 (5% boiled Coelocaryon preussii seed meal). Results obtained in this study shows that diet containing raw Coelocaryon preussii seed meal (RCPSM) (T2) differed significantly (P<0.05) in weight gain (2.43kg) and daily weight gain (0.027kg) from goat fed control diet (T1) and soaked Coelocaryon preussii seed meal (SCPSM) (T3) respectively. However, T2 (RCPSM) was similar statistically (P>0.05) with goat fed boiled Coelocaryon preussii seed meal (BCPSM) (T4). There was no significant (P>0.05) difference in feed intake and feed conversion ratio (FCR) among the treatment groups, but T2 had the least FCR value (7.11) indicating that it was best utilized by the WAD goats when compared to T1, T3 and T4. Values obtained for cost-analysis of diets did not show any significant (P>0.05) difference. It is therefore concluded that incorporation of raw Coelocaryon preussii seed meals concentrate diets gave the best performance among others and comparatively enhanced nutrient intake and digestibility in WAD goats without any deleterious effects.