Livestock Research for Rural Development 30 (3) 2018 Guide for preparation of papers LRRD Newsletter

Citation of this paper

Supplementing Rhodes grass Chloris gayana hay with Maerua angolensis improves weight gain of growing small East African goats

J O Ondiek, S A Abdulrazak and E N Njoka1

Egerton University, Department of Animal Science, P O Box 536-20115 Egerton, Kenya
ondiekjo2002@yahoo.com
1 Chuka University, P O Box 109-60400 Chuka, Kenya

Abstract

To study the performance of Small East African goats fed Rhodes grass(Chloris gayana) hay supplemented with 5 levels of Maerua angolensis (0, 15, 20, 25, 30g DM W0.75) 20 goats were divided into five groups and randomly assigned five treatments in a randomized complete block design based on initial body weight (10.3±1.3kg). The treatment diets were offered twice daily at 08.00 and 14.00 hours with C. gayana and clean water were available ad libitum. Feed intake increased with increasing level ofM. angolensis, whereas, average daily gain, digestibility of DM, CP, NDF and rumen NH3N were the highest on 20g supplementation level. It is concluded that M. angolensis is a potential protein source and can be supplemented at 124 gd-1 (or 20% of metabolic weight, i.e. 20gDM/kgW0.75) for growing Small East African goats.

Key words: average daily gain, digestibility, growing goats, nitrogen balance, tree forage, voluntary feed intake


Introduction

Tropical grasses are mostly inadequate in quantity, nutritive value and feed intake, resulting in poor animal performance Leng (1990).Unlike grasses, multipurpose tree and shrubs (MPTS) support more leaf biomass longer for browsing animals. MPTS forages are rich in crude protein (CP) and minerals [3] therefore, supplementing poor roughage-basal diets containing <7% CP with legume forages improves both feed intake and animal production performance (Abdulrazak et al 1997, Ondiek et al 1999, Ondiek et al 2000), hence there is need to exploit this abundant MPTS forage resource.

Maerua angolensisis a small shrub commonly found in Northern Kenya from deciduous bushland to semi-arid desert at altitudes between 100 to 1200 m above sea level. A large number of legume shrubs and tree species have been documented as useful livestock fodders (Topps 1992, World Agroforestry Centre 2005) and their nutritive value varies widely (Aganga and Tshwenyane2003). Many species contain antinutritive compounds (Woodward and Reed 1997) which may affect the nutritive value of the fodders variously (Swain 1979;Ash 990; Hangerman et al 1992; Reed 1995). The browse from M.angolensis is abundantly available in Kenya and other parts of the world, whose potential as protein source does not appear to have been exploited. Thus the objective of this study was to assess the potential value of M. angolensis as a protein supplement for growing Small East African Goats.


Materials and methods

Twenty Small East African goats aged 6 months and weighing 10.3±1.3kg were confined in individual, well-ventilated raised cages within a common house and were reared following standard managerial practices. All goats were healthy before and during the experiment and were treated against internal and external parasites.Rhodes grass hay was hammer milled through a 4 mm mesh to minimize preferential selection and wastage. M. angolensis forage was harvested by partially hand stripping the leaves from 200 bushes in Marigat, Baringo District. The forage was dried for 7 days in a shed to avoid bleaching and was turned twice daily to effect uniform drying and later milled to pass a 4 mm screen.

Goats were randomly divided in 5 equal groups that were blocked on weight so that the mean weight of each group were not significantly different (RCBD) and offered hay twice daily at 0830 and 1400 hr ad libitum and consumption recorded. M. angolensis was offered at 0800 hr to goats of group 2 to 5 at the rate of 15, 20, 25 and 30g/kg-1 W 0.75. The feeds offered were adjusted weekly based on the live weight and sampled every two weeks, bulked and later analyzed for chemical composition. Total daily faecal and urine output of all goats was collected during the last 7 days, sampled and stored for analysis for N balance and nutrient digestibility.

During the last three days of the trial, 10 ml of rumen liquor was collected using a stomach tube before supplement was offered and thereafter at 2, 4, 6 and 8 hr after supplement was offered. The pH of the sample was determined immediately using a pH meter, then the sample was strained through two layers of clean cotton cloth and the liquid fraction acidified with 2-3 drops of H2SO4 acid and stored at-20 oC for later analysis of NH3-N. The DM, CP and OM in feed and faeces and N were determined using standard methods of AOAC (1990). Neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and acid detergent lignin (ADL) were determined according toVan Soest et al (1991). Total extractable tannins (TET) and total extractable polyphenols (TEPH) were assayed as described by Abdulrazak and Fujihara (1999). Data were analysed for ANOVA using the General Linear Model of SAS computer package (Statistical analysis System (SAS) 2000). Initial live weight was a covariate in the analysis of DMI and live weight changes.


Results and discussions

Maerua angolensis , being a legume, was rich in protein content (Table 1). Feed DM intake from hay did not decrease in supplemented group (Table 2). This and consumption of all supplement by goats indicated that the legume was palatable. As expected, DMI increased with increasing amount of supplement. It has been reported that supplementation of low quality diets can either improve intake of the basal diet (Pathirana et al 1992; Abdulrazak et al 1997) or reduce intake (Getachew et al 1998). Egan (1986) indicated that legume supplements are usually most effective when offered with roughage containing less than 20 gN/kg digestible organic matter, because they increase the rumen fermentable N., which is required by rumen microbes to carry out digestion of the basal roughage diet.

Table 1. Chemical composition (gkg-1DM) of Maerua angolensis and Chloris gayana hay

Forage species

DM

OM

CP

NDF

ADF

ADL

TEPH

TET

M. angolensis

876

941

321

449

332

969

11.4

3.01

C. gayana

866

823

52

352

425

ND

ND

ND

ND= Not done; DM=dry matter, OM= organic matter, CP= crude protein, NDF= neutral
detergent fibre, ADF= acid detergent fibre, ADL= acid detergent lignin, TEPH= total
extractable phenolics, TET= total extractable tannins.

Live weight gains of the control animals were low and animals lost weight during the adjustment period and during the initial two weeks (Table 2). Highest ADG in 20g supplement coincided with the highest rumen ammonia nitrogen level. It is possible that the supplemented diets created more suitable rumen environment by supplying a ready source of energy for the micro flora, which in turn led to a higher microbial activity and NH 3-N turnover. Since all the animals had equal access to the hay, NH3-N appears to have been the main limiting factor restricting intake rather than energy. Improved live weights in goats when legumes supplemented roughage based diets low in N, have also been reported.

The digestibility of DM, CP and NDF and percent N retained were highest in 20g supplement group (Table 3). Apparent digestibility of DM, CP, OM, and fibre was significantly increased with supplementation. Treatment MA20 showed better digestible constituents (P<0.05) with the control group being lowest in all values. The improvement in digestibility could have resulted from reduced levels of ADF and lignin. That M. Angolensis had an ADL of 969gkg-1, then it follows that its proportional increase from 0, 15, 20, 25 and 30 levels should have increased the lignin contribution to the diet rather than decrease. So the argument for ADF may be true but not for lignin.

Table 2. Dry matter feed intake, average daily gains, rumen pH, ammonia nitrogen and urine ammonia nitrogen of Small East African goats fed Chloris gayana hay with or without Maerua angolensis

Treatments

MA0

MA15

MA20

MA25

MA30

SEM

Supplement level (gkg-1 W0.75 )

0

15

20

25

30

DM feed intake (gd-1)

Hay

358.0ab

342.8a

366.7b

353.5ab

370.5b

3.24

M. angolensis supplement

0.0a

90.3b

123.7c

149.3d

178.5e

14.28

Total feed intake (% BW)

3.5a

3.9ab

4.3bc

4.6cd

5.0d

0.15

Average daily gains (gd-1)

9.4a

25.0b

39.8c

28.2bc

25.9b

2.75

Rumen NH3-N (mg/100ml)

6.9

6.7

7.1

6.7

6.9

0.07

Urine NH3-N (mg/100ml)

9.3a

10.5b

11.4c

11.7c

13.7d

0.34

Rumen fluid pH

6.8a

6.9b

7.0bc

6.9b

7.0c

0.02

a, b Means on the same row with different superscripts are significantly different (P<0.05); SEM- Standard error of the mean



Figure 1. Total dry matter intake of various levels of M. angolensis


Figure 2. Average daily gain by various levels of M. angolensis


Table 3. The nutrient digestibility and nitrogen balance of Small East African goats fed Chloris gayana hay and supplemented with Maerua angolensis

Treatments

MA0

MA15

MA20

MA25

MA30

SEM

Supplement level (gkg-1W0.75)

0

15

20

25

30

Apparent Digestibility coefficient (gkg -1DM)

Dry matter

651a

708b

796c

791c

767c

1.47

Crude protein

601a

870c

888c

856c

751b

2.53

Organic matter

668a

826b

840b

865b

859b

1.76

Acid detergent fibre

622a

665ab

697ab

716b

671bc

1.16

Neutral detergent fibre

423a

719b

855d

791c

779c

3.51

Nitrogen balance (gNd-1)

0.1a

1.0b

1.9c

1.7bc

2.0d

0.19

N retained (% of intake)

4.3a

11.7b

19.4c

14.2bc

14.8bc

1.43

a, b Means on the same row with different superscripts are significantly different (P<0.05)SEM- Standard error of the mean


Conclusion


Acknowledgement

The authors are grateful to the African Academy of Sciences for financial support and Egerton University and Tatton Demonstration Unit for availing facilities.


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Received 5 June 2017; Accepted 10 November 2017; Published 1 March 2018

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