Milk Production in Goats on Veld Hay Supplemented with Selected Legume Forages

Abstract

This study was designed to investigate the effects of supplementing silverleaf (Desmodium uncunatum), velvet bean (Mucuna pruriens) and cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) forage legumes to low quality veld hay on milk production in indigenous goats. Sixteen Mashona indigenous lactating goats (weighing 30±2 kg) in their third parity were divided into four dietary treatment groups and used in a completely randomized design experiment. The daily feed intake on the treatment diets and hay was significantly (P 0.05) different among the dietary groups. Milk yield was significantly different among the legume supplemented diets. Daily BW loss was significantly higher in goats supplemented with cowpea, as compared to those supplemented with commercial concentrate feed, silverleaf and velvet bean. The levels of milk production attained in this study implied that commercial concentrate feeds can be substituted with forage legumes without affecting either the milk yield or composition in goats and at lower cost especially for resourceconstrained farming areas.