Comparison of Indigenous Browses and Sunflower Seed Cake Supplementation on Intake and Growth Performance of Dual-purpose Goats Fed Buffel Grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) Hay

Abstract

A study to compare the effects of supplementing Delonix elata, Grewia similis, Tamarindus indica and sunflower seed cake on intake and growth rate of dual-purpose goats fed low quality Buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) hay was carried out. Twenty-eight male goats aged five to seven months (mean weight 12.93±3.94 kg) were randomly allocated to four dietary groups in a completely randomised design. The diets were hay plus Grewia similis, hay plus Delonix elata, hay plus Tamarindus indica and hay plus sunflower seed cake. All diets were supplemented with maize bran. The experimental period was 90 days. Voluntary dry matter intake of the supplements was higher for Tamarindus indica (275.5 g/day) and Grewia similis (201.8 g/day) and lowest for sunflower seed cake (81 g/day). Goats supplemented with Grewia similis had the highest hay intake (183.8 g/day) while those supplemented with sunflower seed cake had the lowest hay intake (98.9 g/day). Animals fed browse supplements gained significantly more weight (p<0.001) than those with sunflower seed cake. There were no significant differences in live weight change between goats fed the different browses. However, those fed Tamarindus indica gained an average of 20.79 g/d which was slightly higher than the gains for those on Grewia similis and Delonix elata while those fed sunflower seed cake lost weight. Correspondingly, goats supplemented with browse leaf meals had higher feed conversion ratios than those supplemented with sunflower seed cake and required 23.91 to 35.06 g DM of feed to produce one g of weight gain per day. In a separate study, the DM disappearance pattern indicated that Grewia similis and Delonix elata were highly degradable compared to Tamarindus indica. At 24 h of incubation, DM degradability was 627, 588 and 345 g/kg DM for Grewia similis, Delonix elata and Tamarindus indica, respectively. In another study in vivo DM digestibility ranged from 46.1% (for hay alone) to 56.2% (for hay plus Grewia similis). It was concluded that the addition of Tamarindus indica, Grewia similis and Delonix elata leaf meals to Cenchrus ciliaris hay resulted in increased total DM intake, in vivo digestibility and growth rate. Therefore, leaf meals of indigenous browses particularly Tamarindus indica and Grewia similis could be used as supplementary feeds for small ruminants grazing on poor quality roughages during the dry season rather than use of expensive, less effective and intermittently available sunflower seed cake.

Dry matter intake, dry matter digestibility and growth performance in goats fed grass-based diet (Brachiaria or Cenchrus) compared with a concentrate-based diet

“…Nutritional value of all three dietary treatments in terms of ME (Table 1) was sufficient to meet the requirement of growing indigenous goats. The ADG in goats in the present study was within the range reported by Goromela et al (1997) and Komwihangilo et al (2005) for Blended goats fed grass hay combined with leaf meal or concentrates. The lack of significant ADG differences between BG or CG and the concentrate-based diet shows that B. brizantha cv.…”

“…During the dry season, goats in highinput (intensive) production systems may be fed concentrates, e.g. agriculture mill by-products as supplementary diet (Komwihangilo et al, 2005;. These concentrates are expensive due to high demand from farmers rearing different livestock species, and large volumes are needed in extensive systems to feed large goat herds.…”

“…Biomass yield of C. ciliaris in semi-arid regions is 1.1-2.6 tonne dry matter (DM) per hectare and crude protein (CP) content is 49-99 g/kg DM (Bwire et al, 2003;Patidar and Mathur, 2017). Feeding C. ciliaris-based diets to goats can be a good option to alleviate feed shortage problems in the tropics, but reported performance results are inconsistent (Goromela et al, 1997;Komwihangilo et al, 2005). Brachiaria brizantha cv.…”

Conservation of forage resources for increasing livestock production in traditional forage reserves in Tanzania

“…The low CP values, coupled with low digestibility of pastures mean that insufficient bulk would be available to satisfy the animal CP requirement for maintenance and production (Leng, 1990). Ruminant production in the tropics is limited by inadequate nitrogen from low quality forages such as hays, straws and stovers, which often contain as low as 20–50 g kg −1 CP in the DM and so do not meet the minimum CP requirement of 80 g kg −1 DM for optimal rumen microbial function (Komwihangilo et al. , 2005).…”

Possibilities of Utilizing Biotechnology to Improve Animal and Animal Feeds Productivity in Tanzania – Review of Past Efforts and Available Opportunities

“…In other studies, indigenous trees and shrubs leaf meals were used to replace conventional supplements like SFC and were shown to have high growth rates in goats (21g/day) compared to 7g/day for goats fed SFC. 32 Indigenous plants have also been shown to possess medicinal effects in the animals.…”