Black Sea Journal of Agriculture
Yazarlar: Gracinda MATAVEİA, Carmen Maria Lucas Pe GARRİNE, Alberto PONDJA, Abubeker HASSEN, Carina VİSSER
Konular:Ziraat, Sütçülük ve Hayvan Bilimleri
Anahtar Kelimeler:Fodder trees,Growth,Reproductive,Smallholder,Goats,Supplementation
Özet: This study was conducted to assess the effect of supplementation with Leucaena leucacephala (LL), and Moringa oleifera (MO) tree leaves on growth and reproduction performance of indigenous goats in southern Mozambique. Fifty-six indigenous goats with an average age of 8 months and a body weight of 17.57 ± 3.97 kg were randomly divided into seven treatments groups of 4 castrated males and 4 females each. Treatment 0 served as the control group (Co), and these animals only grazed on natural pasture without any supplementation. In addition to the natural pasture, three groups received 50 g (LL50), 75 g (LL75) and 100 g (LL100) of L. lecocephala dried leaves, respectively while groups 4 to 6, received 40 g (MO40), 60 g (MO60) and 80 g (MO80) of M. oleifera dried leaf meal, respectively. Leucaena leucocephala contained 23.7% crude protein (CP) and 11.05 MJ/kg DM of metabolizable energy (ME), while M. oleifera leaves contained 28.8% CP and 7.61 MJ/kg DM of ME. The study lasted for 16 months from July of 2015 to November of 2016. Compared to the control, treatment supplementation of the tree leaves, irrespective of level, had a significant effect (p < 0.05) on the overall body weight gain and the final body weight of the bucks but did not significantly affected the does (p > 0.05). No difference could be detected between the final body weight and overall average daily gain (p > 0.05) based on the supplementation source (Leucaena Lecocephala versus Moringa oleifera dried leaf). Average daily gain (ADG), during the dry season, ranged from -7.85 to 10.42 g/day for goats fed LL leaves and from -7.92 to 13.33 g/day for goats fed MO and these values were higher (p < 0.05) compared to values recorded for the control goats (-36.11 to -20.74 g/day). All female reproduction efficiency parameters measured such as birth rate, twinning rate, birth weight and weaning were significantly (p < 0.05) higher in supplemented goats compared to the control goats. Body weights at birth and weaning weight of the offspring of supplemented goats were however not significantly (p > 0.05) affected by supplementation. The highest survival rate (100%) was observed in goats supplemented with Moringa oleifera (MO40), while the lowest was recorded in goats supplemented with Leucaena leucocephala leaves (LL75). The results of this study suggest that L. leucacephala and Moringa oleifera tree leaves could be used as supplementation to goats to overcome the adverse effects of seasonal fluctuations in feed quality on growth and reproductive performance.