Effect of feeding frequency of curcuma longa supplemented diets on nutrients intake, growth performance and rumen fermentation characteristics of goats

Abstract

Natural feed additives are gaining increased attention due to their ability to improve animal performance. Hence, this study was carried out to determine the effect of feeding frequency of diets supplemented turmeric (Curcuma longa) rhizome powder on goats’ performance. Thus, a basal diet was formulated such that 10g of turmeric rhizome powder (TRP) was supplemented with 300g feed as ration for goats. Twenty goats were used for this trial, balanced for weight, arranged in Completely Randomized Design experiment, of five goats per group. The goats were fed the ration once a week, alternate days/skip a day, daily while the control had no TRP in their diet. The feeding trial lasted 56 days. Parameters were taken on nutrients intake, utilization, weight change, microbial evaluation, rumen fermentation characteristics and all data generated were subjected to statistical analysis. From the results, TRP supplemented diets did not significantly (P>0.05) influence the nutrients intake except for crude protein intake (CPI). Nitrogen retention (NR), daily weight gain (DWG) and feed conversion ratio (FCR) were significantly (P<0.05) influenced. NR (86.64%), DWG (55g/d) and FCR (9.96) of goat-does fed TRP supplemented diets on daily basis was the best. Feeding frequency of TRP supplemented diet linearly decreased total bacteria count (TBC) and rumen pH, as the frequency increases while total fungi count (TFC) non-linearly increases. Meanwhile, total volatile fatty acids (TVFA) did not follow a particular trend. Conclusively, daily supplementing of goats’ diet with TRP at 10g/300g feed optimally improved goats’ performance and is thus recommended.