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MEKARN Conference 2010 |
This study aimed to compare effect of improving nutritive value of low quality foliage with supplemented by water spinach or rumen supplement on feed intake, digestibility and N retention. Six male goats with initial body weight of 13 kg and around 3.5 months of age were arranged in a double Latin-square design with 3 periods. Each period consisted of 8 days of adaptation to the diets and 5 days of data collection. Three treatments included Mango foliage alone ad libitum (M), Mango foliage + rumen supplement (MRS) and Mango foliage + water spinach.
DM intake was increased by water spinach but not by the rumen ecosystem supplement (Figure 2). N retention was highest with the water spinach supplement.(Figure 1).
It was concluded that fresh water spinach can improve the rumen environment in goats fed mango foliage with positive effects on feed intake and N retention
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Figure 1; Effect of rumen supplement (RS) and water spinach (WS) on N retention of growing goats fed a basal diet of mango foliage |
Figure 2; Effect of rumen supplement (RS) and water spinach (WS) on DM intake of growing goats fed a basal diet of mango foliage |
