ABSTRACT

Goats arc one of the kw important of 4 to 5 goats while larger numbers are kept in the savanna parts of the country.  estimated goat population in Nigeria is 26.0 million (FAO, 1985). Goats have been used as a source of meat and milk since the earliest days of recorded history. They were first domesticated about ten thousand years ago in the Tigris-Euphrates valley in South western Asia. Goats are mentioned two hundred times in the bible. Moses ordered that alter cloths in the tabernacle be woven of silk and goat hair. In 1981, the goat population of the world was reported as 445 million (Rosalee, 1986). Goats and sheep rearing has been hampered over the years primarily by the non- availability of good quality and quantity of feeds. This is more so for the ruminant  animals during the dry season when the little available forage is low in quality and occasional weight losses, low birth weight, low resistance to disease, and reduced animal performance (Onwuka et al., 1989). This therefore calls for a reasonable level of feed supplementation, with particular emphasis on the energy, protein and mineral contents. Considerable use can be made of agro-industrial by products since they are relatively cheaper than the conventional feeding stuffs and can sustain livestock in terms of feed scarcity when energy and protein arc limiting. The West African Dwarf goat is a poor milker. Evidence of low milk production of this breed is well documented (Nuru, 1985; Steele, 1996; Mason, 1996). Results obtained for the breed on range (Olakoku, 1985) showed that remarkable improvement can be achieved under favourable or improved conditions of management (Nuru, 1985). The WAD goat is managed extensively in Nigeria by subsistent and rural farmers who keep them. There is little or no effort on part of government to improve or encourage the production of this breed because she has in the past depended on mass importation of poultry to bridge the yawning gap between the animal protein (25g/d) and supply (lOgid) in the diets of Nigerians (FAO, 1985). If Nigeria must satisfy the animal protein requirement of her ever increasing population, there is need to promote and encourage production and products of' her indigenous animal species. Nutrition is one of' the major constraints to goat production in Nigeria.