Intake and digestibility of fresh and dried forages from some adaptable legume species
1991
Bestil, L.C. | Espina, D.M. (Visayas State Coll. of Agriculture, Baybay, Leyte (Philippines). Dept. of Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine)
A trial was conducted to find out the effect of drying on the intake and digestibility of some legume forages by sheep. Six Philippine sheep were randomly rotated to the six treatment diets in six periods to complete a 6 x 6 Latin Square Design. The diets included the fresh (soilage) and dry (hay) forms of Desmodium (Desmodium ovalifolium), Kudzu (Pueraria phaseoloides), and Kakawate (Gliricidia sepium). Dried forages had dry matter (DM) content of about 83-86 per cent while the fresh form had about 24-30 percent depending on the legume species. While organic matter (OM) content of these forage species in both forms was relatively high and more or less similar, crude protein (CP) content was lower in Desmodium (13-14 per cent) than in kakawate (20-22 per cent) and kudzu (18-20 per cent) across forms. Obviously, drying did not affect nutrient composition. Daily DM intake of fresh kudzu and kakawate was significantly higher (P0.01) than that of their dry counterparts, with no significant difference between the fresh and dry forms of Desmodium. The trend in OM and CP intakes of the test forages was similar to that of the DM intake. When intakes were expressed as per cent of body weight, a similar trend was observed as that of actual intakes, showing a greater effect of diet rather than of body size on intake. Among the legume species tested, kakawate and kudzu reflected higher DM (P0.01), CP (P0.01), and OM (P0.05) digestibility than Desmodium. Form does not significantly affect digestibility although fresh has slight advantages over dry. In the content of digestible nutrients, kudzu and kakawate exceeded Desmodium in both forms. Considering intake of digestible nutrients, kudzu and kakawate are better fed in their fresh form while Desmodium can be offered either fresh or dry.
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