| Summary: | Twenty intact male Mubende goats were randomly divided into five groups of four goats each. Each group was randomly assigned one of the treatments resulting into a complete randomised design. All the animals were individually fed elephant grass (E), used as basal diet, ad libitum. Treatments were isonitrogenous amount (10 g N/d) of banana peels (BP), maize bran (MB), cottonseed cake (CSC) and fresh Leucaena leaves (LL) offered as supplements. Water and mineral blocks were offered ad libitum. At the end of the feeding trials (186 days), the goats were sacrificed for carcass analysis and the various body parts and organs were measured. Final live weights did not differ significantly between treatment groups (P>0.05) although goats fed on CSC were heavier than the rest. Empty body and dressed carcass weights differed significantly (P<0.05) in goats fed on different diets. Dressing percentage in goats fed LL, MB, and CSC were similar and significantly higher (P<0.01) than in goats fed on BP and E alone. The pH of the carcass was similar across all treatments. Weights of the head, full gut, empty gut, blood, kidney, and omentum fats did not differ significantly (P>0.01); however, weights of skin, pluck and feet differed significantly (P<0.01). Various carcass components were highly correlated with live weight across all diets suggesting that all the diets did not severely alter the allometry of growth.
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