Journal of Experimental Agriculture International

Assessed growth performance, nutrient utilization and blood constituents of goats fed diets containing fluted pumpkin pulp and different proportions of soursop leaf powder. We used twenty- four West African dwarf female goats of about 7 to 8 months old and 7.00 ± 0.15kg. They were randomly allotted to four dietary treatments with three replicates of two goats. The compared diets contained; 6% dried fluted pumpkin pulp without soursop leaf powder (control, PPM₁), 6% dried fluted pumpkin pulp with 2% soursop leaf powder (SLP₂), 6% dried fluted pumpkin pulp with 2.5% soursop leaf powder (SLO₃) and 6% dried fluted pumpkin pulp with 3% soursop leaf powder (SLW₄). The results showed that diet PPM₁was significantly (P<0.05) higher in feed conversion ratio, digestibility of ether extract, gross energy intake, total nitrogen and energy output, creatinine, urea, serum enzymes, total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein. SLOP₃  revealed significantly (P<0.05)  better in final, total & daily body weight gain ,dry matter, crude protein and crude fiber digestibility, nitrogen retention, digestible and metabolizable energy, packed cell volume, haemoglobin, red and white blood cells, serum total protein, albumin, glucose, and high-density lipoprotein.  Feed and nitrogen intake as well as triglycerides indicated significant (P<0.05) higher values in SLW₄.  Using 6% dried fluted pumpkin pulp with 2.5 or 3% soursop leaf powder in diets enhanced nutrient utilization for better performance and health status of goats.