Cost of feed is one of the primary stumbling blocks for goat farming in Malaysia. Stage feeding was introduced as a method to formulate feed at minimum cost based on the requirement of different stages of production to improve overall farm productivity. A study was conducted to evaluate 5 feeding rations formulated based on the requirements of different production stages on Katjang-Boer crossbred. Ration formulated of creep feed (CF) for a period of 101d, starter grower (SG) (70d), grower finisher (GF) (98d), flushing feed (FF) (97d) and maintenance feed (MF) (155d) were compared with commercial feed (CCF and CMF) as control. Results showed a significantly higher (P<0.05 preweaning bodyweight of 12.83 ± 3.61 kg in CF at 101 days of age. Post weaning also achieved significantly higher bodyweight (P<0.05 of 22.20±2.78kg and 31.5±4.67 in SG (223 days) and GF (361 days) of age respectively. Feed cost per kg gain obtain in CF (RM5.68), SG (RM9.03) and GF (RM6.57) were lower compared to CCM of RM6.14, RM10.27 and 12.99 respectively. FF showed a significantly higher (P<0.05) average daily gain (ADG) of 67.01 ± 14.42 g while MF was able to maintain body weight at minimum cost. Stage feeding proved to be able to meet nutritional needs through significantly higher body weight in CF, SG, GF and FF as well as lower feed cost per kg gain rendering it as a more economical option.

To investigate premium palm kernel cake (PKC) based diet’s effect on amino acid digestibility, this study conducted a feeding trial. Four groups of 150 day-old broiler chickens in every group were given four isocaloric diets using these formulation: Diet 1 - commercial feed for both starter and grower phase Diet 2 - broiler feed that contains 30% PKC for starter phase + commercial grower, Diet 3 - commercial starter + broiler feed that contains 45% PKC for grower phase (and Diet 4 - broiler feed that contains 30% PKC for starter phase + broiler feed that contains 45 % premium PKC for grower phase. During the experiment’s day 31, bird faeces’ samples were collected based on group diets in order to estimate the availability of amino acid as well as the digestibility of amino acids using balance experiment. Ultra-Performance Liquid Chromatography with photo-diode array detector was used to analyse amino acid. The findings showed no significant difference in digestibility of amino acids with p<0.05 in the feed broiler chickens’ comparison with commercial feed in terms of different levels of PKC based diet. This study shows that by including 30-45% premium PKC in poultry diet, it could contribute as protein source in broiler feed production with suitable supplementation of essential amino acid. Further studies are encouraged to combine the analysis of excreta, ileal digesta and growth performance in order to achieve more concrete findings.

Information on the nutritional content of animal feed is very important in improving milk production and the quality of milk produced. Data on the nutrition and nutritional quality of feed given to livestock are not comprehensively evaluated and recorded in any dairy farms in Johore. The objective of this study is to determine the nutritional content of selected feedstuffs, with production and quality of milk in selected dairy farms in Johore. Data were collected from 94 dairy farms during field visits through face-toface interviews. Feed samples collected were dairy cattle pellet, Napier grass, palm kernel cake, palm kernel expeller, soybean hull, corn, cassava peel and agricultural waste. Proximate analysis was performed using standard AOAC methods. The result of this study found that 67.0% of dairy farmers in Johore use Napier grass as the main source of fodder. The survey showed that 46% of the farmers in Johore give a suitable quantity of Napier grass based on body weight, while for milk production, the survey showed that 54 dairy farms in Johore produce less than 100 litres/day, 18 farms produce 101-200 litres/day, 12 farms produce 201-300 litres/day, and 10 farms produce more than 300 litres/day. The overall status of dairy farms in Johore shows that 60% of the farms produce an average of 5.1-10 litre milk per cow per day in which 92.5% of milk samples collected had acceptable Total Dissolved Solid values indicating good quality of milk production.