Objective: The purpose of the experiment was to examine the effect of different food sources on the growth and reproduction performances of an epigeic earthworm Perionyx excavatus. Materials and Methods: The experiment was carried out in 18 cylindrical plastic containers for 10 weeks. The study was designed with six treatments, each having three replicates. In control treat¬ment (T1), cow dung was used as the only food source for the earthworm. In another five treat¬ments, water hyacinth (T2), chopped banana plant trunk (T3), vegetable scrap (T4), paddy straw (T5), and sugarcane bagasse (T6) were used as food sources with cow dung as bedding material. Results: The maximum weight gain of earthworm P. excavatus was 3,294.7 ± 4.5 mg for the food staff of vegetable scrap (T4). Earthworm P. excavatus fed with chopped banana plant trunk (T3) showed a very similar weight gain of 3,243.7 ± 3.8 mg. On the contrary, the minimum weight gain was 1,799.7 ± 3.5 mg for the food staff of paddy straw (T5). The maximum cocoon number of 137.33 ± 6.46 mg was observed in T3, whereas a minimum number of 36.67 ± 4.16 mg in T1. The highest number of hatchlings (12.33 ± 0.88 mg) was recorded in treatment T3, whereas the least number of hatchling (5.00 ± 0.58 mg) was observed in T1. Conclusion: It was concluded that, among the six different food sources, chopped banana plant trunk was preferable food source to the earthworm for growth and reproduction. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2020; 7(2.000): 331-337]

Objective: The aim of this experiment was to determine the effect of feeding pineapple waste silage (PWS) as the source of roughage replaced in Napier grass silage (NGS) on the nutrient intakes, energy status, and growth performances of growing Myanmar local cattle. Materials and methods: Eight growing Myanmar local cattle were randomly allocated into two groups, which were adjusted for age, sex, and body weight. Treatments were control (70% NGS + 30% concentrate) and PWS (45% NGS + 25% PWS + 30% concentrate). This experiment lasted for 6 weeks, including adaptation, and feed intake, energy status, and body weight gain were measured. Results: The higher (p < 0.05) intakes of dry matter, crude protein, non-fiber carbohydrate, neutral detergent fiber and energy, and energy balance were observed in the PSW group than in the con¬trol group. Although the initial and final body weights of both groups were not different (p > 0.05), the body weight gain and average daily gain were significantly higher (p < 0.05) in the PSW group than in the control group. Feeding PWS as a roughage source at 25% of diet improved the nutrient intake, energy balance, and body weight gain of growing Myanmar local cattle. Conclusion: Thus, PWS could be used as the source of roughage replaced in NGS in Myanmar local cattle with the improvement of productive performances. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2020; 7(3.000): 436-441]