Nutritive value of oak ( Quercus semecarpifolia) leaves in pashmina kids

Abstract

In order to find the nutritive value of oak ( Quercus semecarpifolia) leaves, native to temperate and humid Himalayan ranges (29°25′N and 79°35′E), containing (% DM basis) 9.49, CP; 94.86, OM; 4.07, EE; 64.20, NDF; 50.60, ADF; 1.60, Ca; 0.2, P and 4.40, tannins; four male pashmina kids (5–6 months age and 12.9±1.39 kg body weight) were fed freshly lopped green-leaves as a sole feed for 180 days involving a metabolism trial at the end. The kids, on average, consumed 3.1±0.20 kg DM 100 −1 kg body weight and 63.5±2.59 g DM kg W −0.75 and grew 27.3±0.71 g day −1. The digestibility of DM, OM, CP, EE, NDF and ADF was found to be 48.4, 50.5, 51.3, 33.2, 41.1 and 29.1%, respectively. All the kids were on positive nitrogen and negative calcium and phosphorus balances. The oak leaves contained 4.9±0.5% DCP and 49.3±1.06% TDN. The results indicate that the oak leaves can be used as a fodder source for maintenance and to support a little growth in pashmina kids provided supplemented with minerals.