Effects of Garlic Powder (Allium Sativum) Supplementation on Carcass Characteristics of West African Dwarf Rams

The effect of garlic powder (Allium sativum) supplementation on quantitative carcass and non- carcass characteristics of West African Dwarf Rams was investigated. A total of 40 West African Dwarf yearling rams were randomly assigned to five dietary groups in a completely randomized design. Each group contained eight rams (two rams of four replicates) assigned separately to five dietary treatments having garlic powder as supplements at 0% (control, diet 1), 0.2% (diet 2), 0.4% (diet 3), 0.6% (diet 4) and 0.8% (diet 5) respectively. Rams in each replicate were housed in individual pen and fed with Panicum maximum at 0.2 kg/ram/day as basal diets and water was provided ad libitum, for a period of 12 weeks. The result showed that the dressing percentage varied among treatment groups with the highest value (55.76±1.82%) obtained from rams fed 4% garlic powder inclusion (treatment 3). The carcass characteristics significantly varied (p<0.05) among treatments. Also, dietary treatments had no significant (p>0.05) effect on the composition of the non-carcass components. Meat to bone ratio was significantly (p<0.05) higher in the flank cut of treatment 5 than cut-parts of other treatments. The study concluded that garlic powder (Allium sativum) supplementation increased carcass yield of West African Dwarf ram.