Twelve (12) West African Dwarf bucks with average age of Twelve (12) months weighing 13 (+_0.7) Kg were subjected to four dietary treatments of Mahogany leaves replacing Cowpea husk at 0, 20, 30 and 40% designated as T₁, T₂, T₃ and T₄ respectively as basal diets, supplemented with maize bran at 100g across treatments to determine the proximate compositions of the experimental diets and their effects on Carcass characteristics of the animals. The experiment lasted for 56 days. Effects of the diets on both carcass and non-carcass (offals) were determined. Data obtained were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using a Randomized Complete Block Design using SAS (2001) package. Where significant differences occurred among means, Duncan Multiple Range Test (Duncan, 1955) was used to separate them. Results of the research revealed that while the final live weights, Intact carcass weights, Rack weights and dressing percentages showed significant (p<0.05) differences across treatments, the rest of the parameters were highly (p<0.01) significant across treatments. The final live weights, Intact carcass weights, Rack weights and dressing percentages showed significant (p<0.05) differences across treatments, the rest of the parameters were highly (p<0.01) significant across treatments. Values for lungs, liver, kidney, heart spleen, Oesophagus rumen and abomasum did not differ (p> 0.05) across treatments. While those of legs, shanks, weights of limbs, trachea, pancreas differed at (p<0.05), those of skin weights, large intestines, small intestines and weights of blood highly differed (p<0.01) across treatments. It was therefore concluded that the use of these diets produce good quality meat products economically without harmful effects on the animals. The diets are therefore recommended for fattening of goats.

There is a great need to feed the ruminant animals with balanced feed to improve the production of meat and milk. Several tree species could be effective sources of providing fodder nutrition during normal as well as scarcity periods (Reddy, 2006). The leaves of certain trees can be as nutritious as those of fodder legumes (Soliva et al., 2005; Aganga et, al., 2003). Fodder tree leaves are alternative feed source for ruminant (Malik et al., 1967) and can help to minimize the wide gap between availability and supply of nutrients, and improve the animal growth and productivity. Fodder tree leaves were found to be rich in protein, soluble carbohydrates, minerals and vitamins, and showed great potential as an alternate feed resource (Baumer, 1992; Bakshi & Wadhwa, 2007). Use of tree leaves in ruminants feeding enhances microbial growth and digestion (Singh., 1982; Bonsi et al., 1995). According to Yisehak et al. (2009), leaves and fruits of multipurpose trees and shrubs have been used as cheap and affordable supplements for ruminant animals in herds of resource poor farmers in several regions of the world Moreover, fodder tree leaves are very relish to small ruminants especially goats.

Community needs for livestock products will increase every year due to population growth and continues to increase (Sahendra and Ratih, 2019). According to Kempster et al. (2012) as cited by Babale and Dazala (2019), carcass conformation is an important indicator of commercial value because carcass with better conformation has advantages of high lean content, proportion of high price cuts and greater muscle area. Eniolorunda et al. (2011) also reported that carcass dimensions give information on its development, helping in determining the main assessment indices.

 According to IFAD (2012), goats have the ability to withstand harsh climatic conditions and contrary to sheep that are grazers, goats are browsers that feed mostly on shrubs and tree leaves in adverse environments with low fertility lands usually unfit for growing crops. This makes goat keeping a good strategy for various marginal resources. Utilization of local feed resources is one strategy to increase the efficiency of goat production. It has earlier been reported by FAOSTAT (2008) that for meat, the West African dwarf goats give a better taste than all others.

Zailani, et al. (2016) reported that the goal of most goat production program is to improve the goat herd's productivity through general husbandry, nutritional management, parasite control, vaccination, and environmental management.

Information on the effects of replacement levels of Mahogany (Sweetienia microphylla) leaves for cowpea husk on carcass characteristics of West african dwarf goats with maize bran supplement in the research area is scanty. This research was therefore carried out to fill the gap.

Experimental site
The experiment was conducted at the Livestock Teaching and Research Farm of the Faculty of Agriculture, Adamawa State University Mubi, Nigeria. According to Adebayo (2004), Mubi metropolis, is a geo-political area comprising of two Local Government Areas; Mubi North and Mubi South. The metropolis is located between latitudes 10° 05' and 10°30'N of the equator and between longitude 13°12' and 13°19'E of the Greenwich meridian. The two local government areas (L.G.A) occupy 192,307Km2 and support a total population 260,009 people (National Population Census, 2006). The area shares a boundary with Maiha L.G.A in the South, Hong L.G.A in the West, Michika L.G.A and Cameroon Republic in the East. The vegetation of Mubi and its environs fall within the Sudan savannah belt of Nigeria. The vegetation zone is referred to as cambretaceous woodland savannah (Saidu and Gadiga, 2004). About 70% of the vegetation is grasses and weeds with few scattered woody plants which make up part of the natural vegetation and the exotic which were brought from other areas into the region.

However, the natural vegetation has been altered by human activities such as cutting of trees for fuel, settlement expansion, and farming activities, bush burning, and local lumbering. Despite the existence of forest reserves, grazing areas and plantation form part of the land cover in various locations especially Mayo-Bani, Betso and Vimtim (Yohanna, 2004).

The relief of the area is a combination of upland plains, lowlands, hills/mountain ranges, valleys and river planes. It has a tropical wet and dry climate. The rainfall pattern is strongly influenced and control by the movement of the Inter Tropical Discontinuity (ITD). The average rainfall for the state is 759mm; rainfall peak is witnessed between June and September. Wettest month are August and September. The length of the season averages eighty-five to ninety-two days per year, while dry season last from November to March (Gadona, et al., 2020).

Sources of feeds
Feeds were obtained from two different sources in and around Mubi environs. The Mahogany (Sweeteinia microphylla) leaves were obtained from the wild by lopping the trees and collecting the leaves and bagging after drying under the shade. Local Brewers’ dried grain was bought from the local beer brewers.

Experimental animals and their management
The experimental animals were bought from local markets in and around Mubi and Michika Local Government areas, Adamawa State, Nigeria. Twelve (12) West African Dwarf bucks with average age of Twelve (12) months weighing about 13 (+_0.7) Kg were used for the experiments. The animals were then individually housed in wooden pens measuring 1.50m2 floor spaces and 1.50m heights. The floor was made of concrete and covered with wood shavings to conserve heat and absorb animal urine. All the animals were dewormed and treated against ectoparasites. Beranil was used against hemo-parasites and antibiotics were administered. At the end of the adaptation period of one week, they were tagged and randomly allocated to different experimental diets. They were weighed to obtain initial weights and balanced for the weights before embarking on data collection. There were four (4) treatments each replicated three times making up twelve (12) experimental animals.

Experimental Diets
The experimental diets consisted of Mahogany (Sweeteinia microphylla) leaves replacing groundnut haulms at 0, 20, 30 and 40% designated as T₁, T₂, T₃ and T₄ respectively as basal diet, supplemented with maize bran at 100g as indicated in Table 1. These diets were fed to the animals throughout the experimental period of 63 days.

Parameters Determined
Parameters determined were proximate compositions of experimental diets, final live weights of two experimental animals from each treatment, hot carcass weights, weights of primal cuts and weights of offal. Proximate compositions of experimental diets and faeces were determined using the methods described by (AOAC, 2008).

Animals were maintained under fasting conditions (with availability of drinking water) for up to 18 hours. The following measurements were taken.

Pre-slaughter weight Animals were weighed immediately before their slaughter and this was termed pre-slaughter weight. For slaughter, each animal was stunned by a blow on the head and bled by cutting the jugular vein. The animal was hanged in a head down position till the bleeding completely stopped. Two animals from each treatment group were randomly selected and slaughtered for carcass evaluation at the end of experimental period. The animals were slaughtered following the standard procedures. The bodies were skinned; the heads and feet were removed.

The carcasses were eviscerated and the internal organs and tissues were weighed. All body components such as head, feet with hooves, skin, blood, kidneys, bladder, liver with bile, heart, lungs, spleen, pancreas, full and empty gut were weighed and their percentages with respect to the empty live weight of the animals were determined. Kidneys fat, heart fat, pelvic fat, and mesenteric fat were also weighed using sensitive balance. Full live weight, empty live weight, hot carcass weight, and hot dressing percentage were determined.

Dressing percentage was calculated according to hot carcass weight and pre-slaughter live weight. One half of the carcass was separated into different primal cuts (leg, loin, rack, breast and shank and shoulder and neck).

Data analysis
Data obtained were subjected to Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) using a Randomized Complete Block Design using SAS (2001) package. Where significant differences occurred among means, Duncan Multiple Range Test (Duncan, 1955) was used to separate them.

Proximate compositions of feed ingredients used in formulating the experimental diets are as presented in table 2. The results of proximate compositions of the feeds showed Cowpea husk and Mahogany leaves had crude protein levels of 12.61 and 11.64% respectively which are high enough to meet the protein requirements of the animals.

Effects of the diets on carcass (primal cuts) characteristics are presented in table 3. While the final live weights, Intact carcass weights, Rack weights and dressing percentages showed significant (p<0.05) differences across treatments, the rest of the parameters were highly (p<0.01) significant across treatments. According to Oguche et al. (2017), the total edible and saleable proportions of goats vary from one region to another because of differences in eating habits and the value of the by- product. Citing Steele (1996) Oguche et al. (2017) further reported that in goats the dressing percentage is usually between 35-50% and it increases as animals mature. That males have a higher dressing percentage than females and goats that have been well fed have higher dressing percentage than those fed on an inadequate diets. The results showed that from breast to fat deposits, the parameters highly (p<0.01) differed significantly across treatments. This is in agreement with Tshabalala et al. (2003) that the value of a goat carcass depends on the quality of edible parts available for sale and that the nutrition of goats have been reported to reflect in the meat quality.

The effects of the diets on non-carcass (offal) characteristics are presented in table 4. The results obtained showed that values for lungs, liver, kidney, heart spleen, Oesophagus rumen and abomasum did not differ (p> 0.05) across treatments. While those of legs, shanks, weights of limbs, trachea, pancreas differed at (p<0.05), those of skin weights, large intestines, small intestines and weights of blood highly differed (p<0.01) across treatments.

The effects of the diets on non-carcass (offal) characteristics are presented in table 4. The results obtained showed that values for lungs, liver, kidney, heart spleen, Oesophagus rumen and abomasum did not differ (p> 0.05) across treatments. While those of legs, shanks, weights of limbs, trachea, pancreas differed at (p<0.05), those of skin weights, large intestines, small intestines and weights of blood highly differed (p<0.01) across treatments.

These findings are in agreement with Tshabalala et al. (2003) who stated that the total edible and saleable proportions of goats vary from one region to another because of differences in eating habits and the value of the by- products.

It can be concluded from this research that the use of these diets produce good quality meat products economically without harmful effects on the animals. The diets are therefore recommended for fattening of goats.