MEKARN Conference 2010 Live
stock production, climate change and resource depletion
Pigs familiar with duckweed readily accept another unfamiliar
green feed, Leucaena leucocephala
Dam Van Tien and T R Preston
Abstract
This study was
undertaken to determine if Large White and Mong Cai pigs that were familiar with
duckweed would readily accept another green feed. The feed chosen for the test
was the fresh leaf of Leucaena leucocephala. The experiment showed that
all pigs experienced with duckweed started eating the new, unfamiliar feed
immediately on the first occasion it was offered to them. The naive control
animals totally rejected the new feed to which they were exposed to them; they
did not eat it at all. It is concluded that, at least under specific conditions,
familiarity with a certain feedstuff can be generalized to another feedstuff.