EFFECT BIODEGRADATION PERIOD, PALM OIL SLUDGE INCLUSION RUMINANT FEEDING

uminants depend mostly on all year-round grazing on natural pastures residue. Most of these areas face seasonal dry periods in which the availability of these pasture decreases and also, its quality by a reduction in the content of digestible energy and nitrogen. Ruminant livestock raised in Nigeria tend to reflect the cyclical variation in quality and quantity of these available for ages. Although ruminants are endowed with the ability to convert low quality feed into high quality animal protein and utilize feeds from land not suitable for cultivation of crops, however, the utilization of these low-quality crop residues is hampered by its low protein content, fiber content, digestibility, vitamin and minerals. Biodegradation of crop residues using edible mushroom has been reported to give rise to products with enhanced nutritive values that promote farm animal performance. This study was carried out to determine the effect of biodegradation period on the chemical composition and in vitro fermentation of rice straw with 60% palm oil sludge (POS) in ruminant feeding. Different inclusion rate of palm oil sludge (POS) and rice straw such as 0%RS, 40%RS and 100% RS at different biodegradation periods; 0, 2, 4 and 6 weeks. The substrates used were dried, mixed to inclusion levels (40% rice straw and 60% palm oil sludge), inoculated with fungal (Pleurotus tuber-regium) to aid biodegradation and further milled to uniform power. Chemical composition and in vitro fermentation study were carried out and data analyzed. However, there was no significant difference between the chemical composition, gas volume production and shown by the data analyzed but the post in vitro gas production has significant difference. Thus, this result shows that it can be included in ruminant diets as an increase in crude protein and decrease in crude fiber and methane gas production.