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Preference between Three Forages by Some Categories of Grasscutters (Thryonomys swinderianus) in Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria

Mustafa, M.O., Ejizu, A.N., Adedoyin, E.D., Onilude, Q.A., Adeoti, O.O.

Preference between Three Forages by Some Categories of Grasscutters (Thryonomys swinderianus) in Umuahia, Abia State, Nigeria

Forages are good complements to concentrate feeds in animal husbandry because of their cheap sourcing, high nutritive values and rich fiber content. The aim of this study was to investigate preference between three forages by five grasscutter groups (adult female cane rats, adult male cane rats, sub-adult female cane rats, sub-adult male cane rats and juvenile female cane rats). The adult cane rats (both female and male) were within the six and seven months age range, the sub-adult cane rats (female and male) were in the four and five months age range while the juvenile female cane rats were within a three and six weeks age range. The experiment was conducted in Umuahia on a total of nineteen experimental units (five adult female, three adult male, five sub-adult female, three sub-adult male and three juvenile female cane rats) which were randomly assigned to nineteen clean cages. The experiment lasted for eighteen days with each forage served consecutively to each unit for six days before replacing the forage by a different forage type. The dataset was analyzed using one-way analysis of variance procedure at the 95% confidence interval while the Fisher’s Least Significant Difference (LSD) post HOC test was adopted to differentiate between forage quantities consumed where significance occurred. The average quantity of guinea grass and elephant grass consumed by the adult female grasscutter group was 0.676kg and 0.650kg, respectively. These values were statistically similar to each other but significantly different from the 0.633kg quantity of gamba grass consumed. The adult male grasscutter group showed significant preference for gamba grass above the guinea and elephant grasses, which were not significantly different from each other. Both the sub-adult female and sub-adult male grasscutters showed no significant preference for a particular forage while the juvenile cane rats showed preference for guinea grass above gamba grass and elephant grass and showed higher preference for gamba grass to elephant grass.

Nigerian Journal of

Forestry

© 2025 by Forestry Association of Nigeria.

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