MORINGA MULTI-NUTRIENT BLOCKS: FORMULATION, PRODUCTION, AND FEEDING TRIAL UNDER A TROPICAL ENVIRONMENT

The need for improved nutrition and productivity of sheep has led to the development of Moringa Multi-nutrient Blocks (MMNB) as an option to address feed shortages that militate against optimum sheep production. Protocols and conditions for making MMNB considered suitable for on-farm adoption by sheep farmers in the tropics, in terms of desired hardness, compactness and cost, while aiming at nutritional complementarity among the different ingredients were investigated. Three of the formulae resulted in blocks of comparable hardness (+) and compactness (+) up till the 7 th day of drying with blocks from formulae 1 maintaining the highest hardness and compactness throughout the drying period. By day 21, however, blocks from formula 1 were apparently the hardest and most compacted (+++). The developed MMNB were tested on twenty five yearling yankasa rams (YYR). The effects of inclusion levels of MMNB on nutrient intake, digestibility, nitrogen balance and haematological parameters of YYR fed Moringa oleifera powder multi-nutrient blocks (MOPMNB) as supplements to Brachiaria decumbens(Signal grass) were investigated in a completely randomized block design experiment using twenty five YYR with average initial weight of 23.10 Kg. There were five treatments:1-5, with 0,5,7,9, and 11% M. oleifera(MOF) inclusion levels respectively. M. oleifera had better nutrient profile with 15.3% CP and 11.84% CF contents than B.decumbens with 7.54% and 33.87% CF respectively. Inclusion of M.oleifera as supplement to B.decumbens in the diets of YYR significantly increased (P < 0.0 5) DM intake especially at higher (7-11%) inclusion rates.EE and NDF intakes were similar but CP increased while CF intake decreased (P < 0.05) as inclusion level increased. The best DM, EE and NDF digestibility were obtained at 11% Moringa inclusion while CP and CF digestibility were highest at 9% inclusion level, which also gave similar DM and CP digestibility with 7% inclusion. N-balance and retention were best under 9% M. oleifera and least under 5% M.oleifera. Packed Cell Volume(PCV), Haemoglobin(Hb), Red Blood Cell(RBC) and White Blood Cell(WBC) counts for the experimental animals were within the normal physiological range for healthy sheep, except for T1 whose RBC were below the range. The blood profile was best for animals on 5% M.oleifera inclusion. It was concluded that inclusion of M. oleifera in MMNB diets significantly improved the blood profile of YYR and invariably enhanced the performance of the animals.