Abstract
An experiment was conducted to compare the utilization of Tephrosia candida and Leucaena leucocephala in mixtures with Panicum maximum as feed for small ruminants, using the artificial bag technique of feed evaluation. Three West African dwarf (WAD) sheep with rumen cannula were used for the experiment. T. candida was formulated into diets with P. maximum as diets A, B and C while L. leucocephala was formulated into diets with P. maximum as diets D, E and F in the ratio 3:1, 1:1 and 1:3 respectively for both legumes. The degradation characteristics indicated L. leucocephala – based diets as being more (P < 0.05) degradable in the rumen than the T. candida – based diets, with diet D having the highest potential degradability (a+b) value. Key words: Artificial bag technique, degradation characteristics, feed, small ruminants.
Highlights
Browse plants are promising forages for livestock productivity in the tropics, as the plant productions are favoured by the climate of the area
A plantation of leucaena or gliricidia left uncoppiced has the tendency of overgrowth which can become a nuisance to the arable crop farmer under the multicropping system that is prevalent in this part of the world
Notwithstanding, the leguminous shrub is among the over 300 species of Tephrosia well distributed in the tropics (Babayemi et al, 2003)
Summary
Browse plants are promising forages for livestock productivity in the tropics, as the plant productions are favoured by the climate of the area. A plantation of leucaena or gliricidia left uncoppiced has the tendency of overgrowth which can become a nuisance to the arable crop farmer under the multicropping system that is prevalent in this part of the world. Tephrosia candida is a rapidly growing perennial shrub that is not known to pose threat to companion crops even if left uncoppiced for a long time. The use of T. candida as a browse plant for livestock feeding is not common. The establishment of T. candida with some grass species and nutrient composition were comparable with leucaena (Odedire and Babayemi, 2007). T. candida was reported to compare favourably with leucaena as forage for livestock (Odedire and Babayemi 2008). In an earlier in vitro gas production study, Babayemi and Bamikole (2006b) reported better predicted values of organic matter digestibility, metabolizable energy and short chain fatty acids for candida
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