EFFECTS OF GUINEA GRASS AND MIXTURES OF GUINEA GRASS, CASSAVA LEAVES AND CENTROSEMA LEAVES ON THE GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND CARCASS CHARACTERISTICS OF GUINEA PIGS (Cavia porcellus (original) (raw)

2020, Ghanaian Journal of Animal Science,

using twelve guinea pigs. The guinea pigs were allotted randomly to four treatments comprising a mixture of Guinea grass (Panicum maximum) leaves, Cassava (Manihot esculenta) leaves and Centrosema (Centrosema pubescens) leaves. The 4 treatments were T1, T2, T3 and T4 with T 1 being the control, composed of Guinea grass leaves, T 2 composed of 50% Guinea grass leaves and 50% Centrosema leaves, T 3 composed of 50% Guinea grass leaves and 50% Cassava leaves and T 4 composed of 50% Guinea grass leaves, 25% Centrosema leaves and 25% Cassava leaves. Each treatment was replicated three times. The feeding trial lasted for a period of 49 days (7 weeks). Feed and water were supplied on ad libitum basis. The weights of the animals were recorded weekly to determine the weight changes of the animals as the experiment progressed. At the end of the experiment, the animals were slaughtered and eviscerated to determine the carcass characteristics. Significant (p<0.05) difference was observed in the total feed intake, where T1 recorded the highest feed intake, followed by T4 then T2 and finally T3. There were no significant (p>0.05 difference) in the initial and final weights, weight gain and feed conversion efficiency across the various treatments. Full stomach, empty stomach and spleen weights recorded significant (p<0.05) difference among the various treatments. In each of these cases, T4 recorded the highest mean weight and it was in the order T1<T2<T3<T4, nevertheless, the remaining carcass traits recorded no significant (p>0.05) differences. The results of the study indicated that the various combinations were acceptable to the animals, did not lead to mortalities and could therefore be used as feeding material for the guinea pigs.