Preference of sheep and goats to paragrass silage
1997
Sanmillan, M.J.C. | Pomares, C.C. (University of Southern Mindanao, Kabacan, Cotabato (Phillippines). Dept. of Animal Science)
A study was conducted to determine the preference of sheep and goats in paragrass silage. The study was carried out in a 2 x 2 Factorial in Complete Randomized Design in 5-day preference feeding trial with 3 replications. Factor A was animal species and grass preparation as Factor B. Thirty six matured maiden sheep and goats with weight ranging from 18 to 23 kilograms were used. Paragrass was cut from an established pasture at vegetative stage. The freshly cut paragrass was chopped and fed as silage while silage was wilted under the sun for about 4 hours, chopped and stored anaerobically in drum silos lined with polyethylene sheets. The silage was opened 18 days after ensiling. The sheep and goats were housed in a nipa roofed houses and randomly assigned with 3 animals in a pen for the feeding trial. The results of the study showed that sheep differed significantly (P0.001) from goats in terms of their feed intake regardless of grass preparation. Sheep preferred paragrass silage (1,980 to 2,600 g/au) more than the soilage (1,800 to 2,500 g/au) from day 1 to day 5 of feeding. The feed intake of sheep and goats to paragrass silage is more or less similar to that of the paragrass soilage which indicates the effectivity of silage for small ruminants. The results suggest that silage can be integrated in the feeding program of small ruminants whether in combination with soilage or as a solo feed
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