Nutritional value of pearl millet for lactating and growing goats.

Abstract

Studies were conducted to assess nutritional value of pearl millet grain (Pennisetum glaucum [L] R. Br.) for lactating and growing goats. Three complete diets containing either 40% corn, 40% pearl millet, or 40% corn and pearl millet mixed 1:1 (wt/wt) were balanced to contain 16% crude protein and 2.24 Mcal DE/kg on an air-dry basis. Forty-five does were blocked by kidding date and randomly assigned to diets for a 7-wk investigation. Feed intake and milk production were unaffected (P > .25) by treatment, and they averaged 2.86 and 2.47 kg daily, respectively. Thirty-three growing goats were blocked by sex and fed the same diets for 15 wk. Daily growth rate and feed to gain ratio were depressed (P < .05) by 25.4 and 19.0%, respectively, when corn was completely replaced with pearl millet. Digestion coefficients for DM, GE, CP, and NDF were reduced by over 10 percentage units with partial or complete replacement of corn by pearl millet. Ruminal acetate and ratio of acetate to propionate increased (P < .05) but butyrate, propionate, and ammonia were depressed (P < .05) with the pearl millet diets. Growing goats consumed 43 meals daily. They consumed 26.9, 32.6, 27.4, and 13.1% of their ration during the morning (0600 to 1200), afternoon (1200 to 1800), evening (1800 to 2400), and night (2400 to 0600), respectively. Pearl millet is a useful energy feed for mature, but not for growing, goats.

Feeding behavior and productive performance of steers fed pearl millet grain-based diets containing proportions of babassu mesocarp bran

“…Moreover, the similar variation in the digestibility coefficients between diets based on corn or pearl millet was consistent with the results obtained by Gonçalves et al (2010). However, the similarity in the digestibility coefficients of diets in which corn grain was replaced by pearl millet grain is not unanimous in the literature, as some authors (Gelaye et al, 1997) reported a reduced digestibility following the inclusion of pearl millet grain in the diet attributed to the higher lignin content of this grain than corn grain. The inclusion of BMB in diets for feedlot cattle may result in increased feeding time due to the reduction of the energy content of diets, as reported by Cruz et al (2012) and Castro et al (2009).…”

Chemical composition and ruminal degradability of grain pearl millet grown in southwestern Quebec

“…Our CP values were in good agreement with the values reported by Haydon and Hobbs (1991) and Gelaye et al (1997). Burton et al (1972) found that CP content of pearl millet ranged between 88 and 209 g kg…”

“…Phosphorus was the most abundant mineral in all cultivars followed by Mg and K, respectively. Similar mineral profiles for pearl millet were reported by Glew et al (1997) and Gelaye et al (1997). However, Oshodi et al (1999) found K to be the most abundant mineral in pearl millet followed by Mg. Levels of Mg and K were higher and lower, respectively, in our study than reported elsewhere (Sarena-Saldivar and Rooney 1995).…”

“…Acid detergent lignin concentration was low and similar for all pearl millet hybrids. Our NDF and ADF values were within the ranges (i.e., 122 to 170 g kg (1 for NDF and 39 to 50 g kg (1 for ADF) reported by others (Hill and Hanna 1990;Gelaye et al 1997;Terrill et al 1998). Starch content was higher (PB0.05) for CGPMH-7 than for the other hybrids ( Table 1).…”

“…Several studies reported higher CP content for pearl millet than other cereal grains such as corn and sorghum grown under similar conditions (Hill et al 1996;Gelaye et al 1997). This is because the proportion of the germ in pearl millet is Sniffen et al (1992).…”