www.ijird.com March, 2014 Vol 3 Issue 3 INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF INNOVATIVE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT Page 168 Evaluation of Preference and Intake of Browse Species by West African Dwarf Goats in Nigeria 1. Introduction Ruminants are generally faced with the period of feed scarcity during the dry season. Period of dry season is synonymous with unavailability of quality pasture. During this period, animals are left with lignified grasses, crop residues and industrial by-products. The conventional feed that may be available during this period are expensive as a result of competition between man and monogastric animals like poultry, swine etc. Voluntary intake of tropical grasses can be a major constrain to ruminant performance in the tropics. The solution to this problem may be through the incorporation of tree fodders as feed supplements to improve the rumen environment, which can lead to increase forage intake. A lot of studies have been carried out on few of the browse trees, and the most prominent ones are Leucaena leucocephala (Odeyinka, 1999; Odedire and Babayemi, 2008) and Gliricidia sepium (Arigbede et al., 2003; Babayemi, 2007). Nevertheless their utilization in ruminant feeding is constrained because of the presence of mimosine and coumarin in L. leucocephala and G. sepium respectively. The availability of these two browse species all through the year has made them to be used as mulching of some crops during dry season and this alternative utilization has reduced their continuous availability as livestock feed. In view of this, it is then necessary to look into the potentials of some other under-utilized fodders that could sustain the livestock during the lean period. Although, most researches have been focusing on single tree fodder evaluation and not feed preference, but ruminants select their diets from a range of plant species and plant parts that differ in their physical and chemical compositions (Dove, 1996). However, in ruminant production practices, a common practice is to offer a variety of tree fodders as supplements, either separately or with grasses (Sandoval-Castro et al., 2005). The information regarding these practices on intake of forage is not readily available. Hence, to get sufficient and good quality feed for the ruminant, a strategy has to be developed to assess the value of these parameters as predictors of forage preference, and their values in designing feed for effective management of the available browse plants. ISSN 2278 – 0211 (Online) Dupe O. Ogunbosoye Kwara State University, Malete, Nigeria F. K. Otukoya Ogun State Agricultural Development Program, Abeokuta, Nigeria Abstract: In the south west of Nigeria there two distinct seasons (rainy and dry). Forage availability is seasonal. Rainy period is synonymous to abundance of fodders but experience scarcity during dry season. Therefore, in order to broaden the feed base for ruminants in Nigeria, the suitability of thirty one (31) browse species as feed for ruminant animals was investigated. The nutritive components of the foliage of these browse species were determined. Chemical composition of the forages was examined. Presence of secondary metabolites viz-a-viz tannins, saponins and steroids was determined qualitatively. Also, a short term forage preference (acceptability test) for the browse species by West African Dwarf (WAD) goats was evaluated using a cafeteria method in Ten (10) adult female WAD goats. The thirty one (31) browse plants were classified into two groups of legumes and non-legumes. The non-legumes were further sub-divided into non-leguminous family related and unrelated. Results indicate that crude protein (CP) content was significantly (P<0.05) lowest in Syzygium zamaragensis and highest in Griffonia simplicifolia while Neutral detergent fibre (NDF) differed significantly (P<0.05) and ranged from 32.08 to 69.31% in Leucaena leucephala and Kigelia africana respectively. All other components were also varied significantly. The acceptability assessment of the browse species revealed that only twelve of the fodder species evaluated were accepted and when these twelve were further subjected to acceptability test, five of the twelve that were previously preferred were only accepted. The remaining seven were rejected. It was concluded from the study that goats select their diets when they are introduced to varieties of forages. Key words: Acceptability, preference, coefficient of preference, WAD goats, browses plants