Abstract
Animal performance mainly depends on the quantity and quality of forage available as feed and animal feed represents one of the major costs in animal production. This research was conducted in the Faculty of Natural Resources and Environment Experimental Field at University for Development Studies, Nyankpala Campus to evaluate the relative feed value of four indigenous savanna forage shrubs. These shrubs were cultivated and their leaves harvested at 7, 10 and 13 weeks after establishment. Harvested leaves were pulverized to determine ash, crude fat, crude fiber, crude protein, neutral detergent fibre (NDF) and acid detergent fibre (ADF). Metabolisable energy, dry matter (DM), digestible dry matter (DDM), dry matter intake (DMI) and relative feed values (RFV) were also estimated. Ash, crude fat, crude fibre, CP, ADF and NDF contents ranged from 7.56 to 11.22%, 1.924 to 2.812%, 9.33 to 16.11%, 4.598 to 4.960%, 20.73 to 27.22% and 33.47 to 53.06%, respectively. The DDM, DMI and RFV ranged from 67.70 to 74.84%, 2.27 to 3.66% and 120.2 to 212.6%, respectively. The NDF, ADF contents of Tephrosia purpurea was significantly higher than those for Cajanus cajan (L), Stylosanthes mucronata and Securinega virosa (P < 0.05). The DDM and RFV of S. virosa and S. mucronata were significantly higher than those for C. cajan and T. purpurea. The DMI in S. virosa and S. mucronata was significantly higher than those for other shrubs. The carbohydrate contents of S. virosa were significantly higher than the other shrubs. In conclusion all the species studied offered considerable potential as high quality forage for ruminants during the acute periods of the year when the quantity and quality of forages are limited. Key words: Relative feed value, indigenous shrubs, plant maturity, dry matter, livestock.
Highlights
Animal production, ruminants, is one of the most significant socio-economic activities in the savanna zone of Ghana, where irregular rainfall and the seasonality of forage production makes consistent production of animal feed the greatest challenge to ruminant production in the zone (Adam et al, 2010; de Carvalho, 2017)
It was observed from the analysis that mean ash content varied significantly (p < 0.001) among the shrubs
The highest (2.812%) mean crude fat content was recorded in T. purpurea and C. cajan while S. virosa had the lowest (1.924%)
Summary
Ruminants, is one of the most significant socio-economic activities in the savanna zone of Ghana, where irregular rainfall and the seasonality of forage production makes consistent production of animal feed the greatest challenge to ruminant production in the zone (Adam et al, 2010; de Carvalho, 2017). Animal performance mainly depends on the quantity and quality of forage available to livestock (Lazzarini et al, 2009; Woolley et al, 2009). Indigenous vegetation, broadly, constitutes an important feed reserve for the herds of ruminants in the savanna zone, but in most cases, the native vegetation is not sufficient to meet the nutritional requirements of the animals, which results in low performance rates and low profitability for rural producers (de Carvalho, 2017). Livestock feeds is almost entirely dependent on grazing of natural pastures and rangelands within the Savannah woodlands, unimproved pastures and bush fallow, with extreme seasonal variation in quantity and quality
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