Study on using White flowers (Spilanthes camellia Murr) as the feed supplement for dairy goats

Ly Thi Luyen, Nguyen Ngoc Anh, Khuc Thi Hue and T R Preston^*

Goat and Rabbit Research Centre, Sontay, Hanoi, Vietnam
^{*TOSOLY, AA48 Socorro, Colombia}
manhluyen@yahoo.com

Abstract

The experiment was carried out at the farm of the Goat and Rabbit Research Center Sontay, Hanoi, Vietnam from May to July 2010 to evaluate the effect of different supplementation levels of White flowers (Spilanthes acmella Murr) foliage (WF) on feed intake and milk yield of dairy goats. Twenty (Alpine) dairy goats with an initial weight of 40 kg and  3-4 years of age were used. The experiment consists of 3 diets with different levels of WF foliage supplementation at 5, 10 and 15 % of dry matter (DM) in the diet and the control treatment without supplementation of WF.

There was no significant difference in dry matter intake (DMI) among treatments. The milk yield of goats gradually increased with increasing level of WF (980. 1170. 1180 and 1570 g/day, respectively). In conclusion White flowers (Spilanthes acmella Murr) can be used as supplemental feed for dairy goats up to 15 % in the diet without any negative effect on digestion and health. 

Key words: White flowers, guinea grass, Jackfruit, dairy goats and milk yield 

Introduction

The White flower (Spilanthes acmella Murr) (WF) is a wild shrub tree in the Chrysanthemum family. It grows naturally round year in road sides or in hilly land and mountainous rural areas in Vietnam. It produces high biomass yield, especially in the rainy season (from May to September); quickly re-growing with about 4-5 cuttings per year. There are reports indicating the fresh biomass yield ranged from 14 to 17 tonnes per ha per year (Toan et al 2006).  The chemical of composition of White flower is: Ca 2%, P 0.34% and crude protein 18.7% (DM basos). The DM in the fresh foliage is about 15%.  It has been studied in diets for rabbit (Hongthong Phimmasan and Ledin 2005) but no research has been done for dairy goats.  The dry season is rather long from October to February. Feeds for small ruminants at this time are scarce as most grasses and cultivated forages grow slowly. The feeding system for dairy goat in this time is mainly with harvested forage.

The aim of this research is to explore the chemical composition and value of WF and its use as a feed supplement dairy goats, especially in the dry season.    

Materials and methods

Location and climate

The experiments were conducted in The Goat and Rabbit Research Center, Sontay. Hanoi in Northern Vietnam. The Center is located in the buffer zone between the mountainous area and the delta  at E 105^o25 longitude and 21^o06 latitude, with the mean altitude of 220 m above sea level. The climate is tropical monsoon with the wet season between April and November and dry season from December to March. Average annual rainfall is 1850 mm, with a mean temperature range of 24^oc to 32^oC. The trial was done during May to July 2010. 

Experiment feeds

The feeds used in the experiment included Guinea grass, Jackfruit foliage, White flower (Spilanthes acmella Murr) foliage, concentrate, cassava hay and cassava chips. The fresh guinea grass was collected from farmers daily in the morning in a rotational harvesting system at about 30 to 35 days of re-growth and fed fresh after chopping into lengths of 10 cm. The Jackfruit was collected from the farmers by cutting the stems at about 40 cm to the top in the morning. The White flower (Spilanthes acmella Murr) foliage was harvested by cutting the stems at about 40 cm above the ground every morning during experiment time and was chopped in to7-10 cm of length before feeding. The concentrate was a commercial product bought at the Proconco Company and contained 170 g CP per kg of feed. The cassava hay consisting of leaves and about 40 cm of stems was harvested in November to December 2009 chopped into pieces of 2-5 cm, sun dried and stored in bags at low humidity to ensure the quality of the hay. The cassava chip was purchased from the farmers around the Centre.

Animals and management

Twenty (Alpine) dairy goats with an initial weight of 40 kg and 3-4 years of age were used. The goats were kept in individual pens in the same row in an experimental house (each house comprises two parallel rows of pens). Each row is about 40 m long and 2.5 m wide. The animals were fed 6 times per day. The details of the feeding time table were as follows: 

•07.00 h           25 %Guinea grass + Cassava hay

•09.00 h           50 %WF foliage or 25 %guinea grass (control treatment) + 50% concentrate

•011.00 h         50 %Jackfruit foliage + 25 % Guinea grass + Cassava chip

•13.30 h           25% Guinea grass + 50% concentrate

•15.30 h           50% WF foliage or 25 % Guinea grass (control treatment)

•17.30 h           25% Guinea grass

The animals were allowed to exercise once daily for one hour in the afternoon at 14.30 h.

All animals were vaccinated against pasteurellosis and enterotoxemia and were treated against internal parasites using Wormital (Albendazole) before commencement of the experiment. The animals used in the experiment were obtained from the Goat and Rabbit Research Centre, Sontay, Hanoi, Vietnam. 

Experimental design

The experimental design was a Completely Randomised Design (CRD). Total feeds offered were at about 4% of body weight (DM basis). The treatments were:

• 0% WF: 0% Guinea grass + Jackfruit foliage + Cassava hay + Cassava chip + Concentrate 

• 5% WF: 5% WF + Guinea grass + Jackfruit foliage + Cassava hay + Cassava chip + Concentrate 

• 10% WF: 10% WF + Guinea grass + Jackfruit foliage + Cassava hay + Cassava chip + Concentrate

• 15% WF: 15% WF + Guinea grass + Jackfruit foliage + Cassava hay + Cassava chip + Concentrate

The level of WF was on DM basis.

Data collection and sample analysis

Milk yield, feed offer and feed refusals were measured daily.  Feed offer were collected ones per week then pooled weekly and representative samples were taken for chemical analysis. Feed refusals were collected daily then pooled monthly and representative samples were taken for chemical analysis. The feeds samples were analyzed for DM, CP, NDF, ADF and Ash.

Statistical analysis

The data were analyzed  using the GLM procedure of Minitab Software, version 13.1 (Minitab 2000). Treatment means which showed significant difference at the probability level of P<0.05 were compared  using Tukey’s pair-wise comparison procedures in the Minitab software. The statistical model was:

Yijk = m +Tj + eij

Where Yijk is the dependent variable, m is the overall mean. Tj is the effect of treatments and eijk is the random error, independent and normally distributed.  

Results and discussion

The chemical composition of the feeds is shown in Table 1:

There were no differences in total DM intake among the treatments (Table 2). However, the intake of Jackfruit foliage and Guinea grass decreased as the level of WF was increased.

Figure 1: Total DM intake of experiment goats, g/head/day

Conclusions

• Feeding the foliage of White flower (Spilanthes acmella Murr) at up 15% of the diet DM in mixed diets of dairy goats increased the milk yield by 50%.

• Further research is needed to ascertain the reason for the apparently high nutritive value of this plant.

References

Hongthong Phimmasan and Ledin I 2005 Effect of supplementing a diet based on maize. rice bran and cassava chip with three different improved forages on feed intake. Digestibility and growth in rabbits  http://www.mekarn.org/msc2003-05/theses05/hong_p1

Minitab 2000

Nguyen Quoc Toan, Tran Quoc Tuan, Hoang Thi Lang and Dao Duc Bien 2006  Study on Spilanthes acmella Murr as feed for cow (Magazine of science and technologies of National institute of animal husbandry. Vietnam,  June. 2007).

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