At the Teaching and Research Farm of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, a study was conducted to evaluate the mineral intake and performance of Uda rams offered different kanwa-based mineral licks. Twenty (20) apparently healthy yearling Uda rams were used for the experiment, with age determined by dentition. Each animal served as a replicate, and the rams were randomly allocated to five treatments, with four (4) rams per treatment. The treatments consisted of Kanwan Bai-Bai, Kanwan Kolo, Hogga, Balma, and a traditional mineral lick. Data on performance, mineral intake, and nutrient digestibility were subjected to analysis of variance (ANOVA). The study assessed growth performance, mineral consumption, and nutrient utilization of Uda rams fed the different kanwa-based mineral licks. Results showed that rams in Treatment 2 (Kanwan Kolo) recorded significantly (P < 0.05) higher values for all production parameters measured compared to the other treatments. Nutrient digestibility was also higher in animals fed Kanwan Kolo than those in Treatments 1, 3, and 4. The results showed animals in T2 to have higher digestibility values in all parameters; there was no difference between T2 and T3 with regards to Crude Protein, Crude Fibre and fibre fractions digestibility; the result also shows no difference between T1 and T2 in terms of ash, Acid Detergent Fibre and cellulose digestibility. The study conclude that Kanwan-kolo offered the better result in terms of some productive parameters such as weight gain, average daily gain, digestibility and final weight of the animals.
