GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF GROWER CATTLE FED DIFFERENT GRADED LEVEL OF NEGRO PEPPER (XYLOPIA AETHIOPICA) IN SEMI ARID ZONE OF BORNO STATE

ABSTRACT The study was conducted at the Livestock Teaching and Research Farm Department of Animal Science, University of Maiduguri, Borno State, to evaluate the effect of inclusion level of Xylopia ethiopica on growth performance of growing cattle in semi-arid zone of Borno state, fifteen (15) growing cattle with average weight (100 to 115 kg) were used for the experiment. Xylopia ethiopica was added at graded level of 0, 2.5, 5.0, 7.5and 10% in dietary treatment designated as T1, T2, T3, T4, and T5 respectively the experimental animal were randomly allocated to the five (5) treatments in a completely randomized design (CRD) with three (3) animal per replicate, the feeding trail lasted for 56 days . The growth performance result showed no significance (p,0.05) difference among the treatment for initial weight gain. However, the other parameters recorded significant difference. Significant (p99%). Crude protein increased with increasing inclusion level of Negro pepper, with the highest value recorded in T5 (28.1%). Ash content decreased as the inclusion level of Negro pepper increased, with the highest values observed in T1 and T2 (1.0%) and the lowest in T3, T4 and T5 (0.5%). Nitrogen free extract (NFE) was highest in T3 (61.5%) and lowest in T4 (54.9%). It was therefore concluded that inclusion of 10% Xylopia aethiopica is highly improving the growth performance of the ruminant animals.