PREFERENCE, ACCEPTABILITY AND COEFFICIENT OF PREFERENCE FOR RAMS FED WITH DIFFERENT TYPES OF GRASS HAY

Abstract

ABSTRACT This research was conducted to evaluate the acceptability, preferences and coefficient of preference of rams fed with grass hay made from different processing methods. The study was laid in a completely randomized design. The feeding trial involved 15 rams, consisting of a mixture of two breeds namely Ouda, and Yankasa. The rams were housed in an intensive system within a well-ventilated ruminant house. The animals were assigned to three treatment groups, with each treatment replicated three times, comprising of five (5) rams per replicate. Data collected were subjected to one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and significant treatment means were separated using Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) at 5% level of significance (SAS 1999). Results showed that there was significant difference (p<0.05) on the effects of method of hay processing on the acceptability, preference and coefficient of preference on the rams used in this study. The highest acceptability value was recorded for the baled hay (64.88%) fed to rams, followed by that of chopped hay (53.33%) while the least value was recorded for the hay made from tripod stand covered with white nylon (50.00%), this may be due to the fact that baling of hay improves its firmness and compressity.The highest coefficient of preference was recorded for baled hay (0.72%), followed by hay made from tripod black (0.42%) while the least value was from tripod white hay (0.25%) which may be due to the reduction of contaminants in it as compared to others. It can therefore be concluded that the method of processing hay significantly affects the acceptability, preference and coefficient of preference of small ruminants especially rams.