Leucaena leucocephala as feed for rabbits and pigs: detailed chemical composition and effect of level of inclusion on performance

Abstract

Data on chemical composition of Leucaena leucocephala are presented. The nitrogen, sugar, starch and neutral detergent fibre contents were 32.4, 42.8, 8.6 and 201.8 g kg −1 dry matter. Gross energy was 20.24 MJ/kg DM. Tannin content was 2.9% while total trypsin concentration is also presented. In Experiment 1 the effect of different levels of inclusion of leucaena in rabbit broiler mash on performance of rabbits was studied. Treatment A was 100% broiler mash while Treatments B and C were composed of 15% and 30% leucaena meal, the other portions being broiler mash. Growth rate, feed intake and feed conversion ratio and dressing percentage were not affected by level of inclusion. Experiment 2 with 40 female rabbits comprised five treatments: Treatment A was rabbit broiler mash while Treatments B, C, D and E were made up of 40% of either Leuneae cornuta, Leucaena leucocephala or Commelina benghalensis or equal proportions of the three species respectively, the other portions being broiler mash. Animals on Treatment A had relatively higher liveweights and dressing percentages but were not significantly different from those of Treatments B, C and E ( P>0.05). Rabbits on Treatment D had significantly ( P<0.05) lower growth rate and dressing percentage. In Experiment 3, 12 growing-finishing pigs were allocated to three treatments: A, B and C. The three treatments contained 0, 10 and 20% leucaena leaf meal respectively, substituted at the expence of the standard commercial feed. Growth rates of 654, 512 and 410 g per day and feed conversion ratios of 3.97, 5.02 and 6.22 g feed g −1 gain were obtained for pigs on Treatments A, B and C respectively.