UTILIZATION OF FRESH Leucaena leucocephala PLANT AND ITS SILAGE IN SHEEP NUTRITION

Abstract

An experiment was carried out at the experimental station of the Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University to evaluate fresh Leucaena leucocephala plants and its silage as a unconventional feed in rations of growing Rahmani males sheep. A total number of 12 growing Rahmani rams aging 6-7 months and weighing 28.5 kg on the average were devided into two groups of 6 animals each to represent two experimental groups. The first group was offered barley according to energy and protein requirements plus green Leucaena leucocephala whole plants ad-libitum, while the second group was offered barley (requrements) and Leucaena silage adlibitum. The experiment lasted 12 weeks.Results obtained can be summerized as followes : 1) Group fed on barley plus Leucaena silage showed significantly (P<0.05)superior live body weight compared to the group fed on barley plus Leucaena fresh plants. 2) Significant differences (P < 0.05) occurred on the rumen liquor characteristics (pH, ammonia-N and TVFA's) for the favor of the group fed on barley and Leucaena silage diet. 3) Digestibility coefficients of DM, OM, CP, CF and NFE were significantly higher in the silage fed group compared to the other group. 4) Barley plus Leucaena silage diet showed significantly better feeding values as TDN %, SV%, DCP and N.B, compared to barley plus fresh Leucaena diet.