52 Can Annual Lespedeza (Kummerowia Stipulacea) be Used as an Anti-Parasitic Hay for Goats?

Abstract

Abstract Infection with internal parasites is the primary constraint to profitable small ruminant production systems world-wide. Perennial lespedeza (Lespedeza cuneata) has been used as a nutraceutical (nutritional + pharmaceutical) forage for livestock, with very good bioactivity against gastrointestinal nematodes (GIN) and coccidia (Eimeria spp.) in sheep and goats, but the anti-parasitic bioactivity of annual lespedeza (Kummerowia stiulacea) has not been documented. An 8-week pen feeding trial was completed with yearling Spanish intact bucks (38.3 ± 3.6 kg) fed 3 treatment diets (n = 15/treatment) of 60% hay and 40% concentrate, with diets balanced for CP and energy. Hay treatments were ground ‘Korean’ annual lespedeza (AL), ‘AU-Grazer’ sericea lespedeza (SL), and bermudagrass (Cynodon dactylon). Blood and fecal samples were taken every 7 days throughout the study to determine packed cell volume (PCV) and GIN fecal egg counts (FEC) and coccidia fecal oocyst counts (FOC), respectively. Body weights (BW) were taken at the start and end of the trial. Data were analyzed as a completely randomized design with repeated measures. There was no effect of treatment, time, or treatment x time interaction on BW or PCV of the goats. Both FEC and FOC were impacted by a treatment by time interaction (P < 0.05). For FEC, AL goats were different from CON at all time points, but the SL group was only different from CON at d 14, 21 and 49. The AL and SL groups were different at days 35, 42 and 49 only. For FOC, AL was only different (P < 0.03) from CON on day 49, SL different from CON on day 42 and 49 and AL different from SL on day 42 only. Korean AL had similar anti-parasitic bioactivity as AU-Grazer SL in goats, suggesting a larger role for AL as a nutraceutical forage for livestock.