Nguyen Thi Hong Nhan, 1998. Livest. Res. Rural Dev., 10 (3)

A study was carried out at Cantho University from March to June 1997 to determine effects of foliage of Sesbania grandiflora, Leucaena leucocephala, Hibiscus rosa-sinensis and Ceiba pentandra on intake, digestion and rumen environment of growing goats. The design used four goats (10-12 kg live weight) in a Latin square arrangement of four treatments (the tree foliages) with 21 day periods. Feed intake, total faecal and urine output were recorded during the last fifteen days of the study period. On the last day of each period, rumen fluid was obtained with a stomach tube before and 4 hours after offereing feed in the morning. Intake of fresh foliage was similar (P=0.24) on all treatments but dry matter and crude protein intakes differed significantly (P=0.001) with highest values for Sesbania, followed by Leucaena, Ceiba and Hibiscus. Apparent dry matter digestibility coefficients were 74.8, 75.9, 68.0 and 76.0 % for Sesbania, Leucaena, Hibiscus and Ceiba, respectively, and did not differ between foliages. There were significant differences (P=0.038) in apparent digestibility of crude protein with lower values for Hibiscus and Ceiba (50.5 and 49.3 %) compared with Sesbania and Leucaena (63.7 and 66.5 %). Feed dry matter intake was highly correlated (R² = 0.86) with intake of crude protein. Changes in liveweight were 143, 80, 51 and 74 g/day (P=0.067) for Sesbania, Leucaena, Hibiscus and Ceiba, respectively. Rumen ammonia levels and protozoal counts after feeding were higher for Sesbania and Leucaena than for the other two foliages.

It is concluded that the foliage of Sesbania grandiflora and Leucaena leucocephala has a higher feeding value for goats than that from Ceiba pentandra and Hibiscus rosa-sinensis, but that all four foliages will provide more than maintenance needs for growing goats.