Dry matter degradation characteristics of rice stover with different proportions of Ficus capensis or Alchornea cordifolia in rumen fistulated sheep, goats or cattle

Rumen dry matter degradation characteristics (soluble fraction, degradable fraction, rate of degradation and effective degradability) of leaves of two browse species (Alchornea cordifolia, Ficus capensis) and rice stover and their varying proportions (10, 20 or 30% of each browse: crop residue mixture) were evaluated in rumen fistulated West African Dwarf sheep and goats and Bunaji cattle. The forages differed (P<0.05) in soluble fraction (a) rate of degradation (c) and effective degradability (ED) but did not differ in the degradable fraction (b). Rice stover bad the highest rate of degradation and F.capensis the least. Effective degradability (ED) was highest in cattle followed by sheep and goats with a high degree of correlation among them. The inclusion of the different proportions of browse in the mixtures show some significance in a, b and ED (P<0.05). Mixture had a depressive effect on the soluble fraction of the feeds in rice stover: A.cordifolia mixtures. Degradable fraction differed mainly in F.capensis mixtures. The rate of degradation was affected mainly in sheep and cattle among the feeds in rice stover: F.capensis mixtures. The different mixtures influenced effective degradability. As with the sole feeds, ED was highest in cattle, followed by sheep and goats.Keywords: Degradation, browse, crop residue, mixture effect

Magnesium utilisation by West African dwarf goats during gestation

Twelve monoparous WAD goats aged 2-4 years and weighing 15 ± 1.2kg were used in a 20 wk gestation trial to study the effect of dietary inclusion of Mg supplementation at 0.01, 0.11 and 0.21% with MgSO4.7H2O in isonitrogenous and isocaloric diets. The does were synchronised and pregnant does were randomly allotted into each of the three groups of four animals. Results showed that Mg supplementation had a significant (P < 0.05) effect on feed intake, body weight change, birth weight, Mg-intake, faecal-Mg, urine-Mg, and serum-Mg. The general trend was that increasing dietary Mg inclusion decreased DMI, BW change, birth weight but an increase in Mg excretions. The mean values for the DMI were 820, 650 and 470 g/d while those of BW change were 27.8, 25.7 and 16.0g/d. Birth weight was significantly (P < 0.05) stimulated with mean values 2.7, 2.8 and 1.7 kg. Wider variations (P< 0.05) of 82.0, 715 and 987 mg/d were observed for Mg-intake while non­ significant (P>0.05) differences of values 27.4, 26.9 and 28.1 mg/d Mg-balance were noted. The mean values for digestibility coefficient and blood serum Mg were 47.3, 17.5 and 15.8; and 1.7, 2.5 and 3.4 mg/100 ml respectively. Key words: Magnesium, gestating goats &nbsp

Voluntary intake, apparent digestibility and performance of West African dwarf goats fed with leaves of some multi-purpose tree species

The Multi-purpose tree species (MPTS) were sole fed to 16 West African Dwarf (WAD) goats to investigate their optimum DMI and performance. The DMI of 57.40g.kg-1 W0.75 d-1 recorded for Pterocarpus santalinoides (PS) was the highest followed by 56.13, 46.27 and 14.76g.kg-1 W0.75  d-1 for Leucaena leucocephala (LL), Grewia pubescens (GP) and Enterolobium cyclocarpum (EC) respectively. The differences were significantly different (P<0.05). The OMI followed the same trend as DMI. The CPI was highest (12.06g.kg-1 W.0.75d-1) for LL and lowest (3.84g.kg-1 W0.75d-1) for EC. Also, NDF, ADF and Lignin intakes ranged from 5.96 - 27.84, 4.42 - 19.46 and 1.63 - 8.90 g/kg W0.75 d-1 for EC and PS. Similarly, the digestibility coefficients (%) were significant (P<0.05) between the MPTS. DMD ranged from 66.54 in GP to 76.47 in EC. OM, CP, NDF, ADF and Lignin digestibility varied between 62.46-78.03, 70.75-79.64, 65.06-74.34, 56.59-76.45 and 61.33 -78.10 for LL and EC. The best growth performance was recorded for goats on PS being 24.49g.d-1 while goats on EC lost 5.27g.d-1. The nitrogen utilization of all the goats on the MPTS ranged between 65.76-70.92% which reflected no significant difference (P>0.05) between the forage species. Key words: MPTS, Nutrient intake, digestibility, nitrogen retention, performanc

Effect Of Feeding Increasing Levels Of Tropical Kudzu (Pueraria Phaseloides) On Feed Intake, Weight Change And Manure Production Of Weaned N\'dama Cattle Fed A Basal Diet Of Poor Quality Guinea Grass

Summary Different proportions of Pueraria phaseloides, (0, 15, 30 and 45% ) were offered as a supplement to weaned N\' dama steers fed a Panicum maximum basal diet to determine voluntary dry matter intake, weight gains and faecal output and quality in a completely randomized design. Dry matter degradation characteristics of experimental diets were also assessed in three-rumen fistulated Bunaji cattle castrates. The nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) contents of experimental diets increased with increasing inclusion of P. phaseloides while the neutral detergent fibre (NDF) contents decreased. Dry matter intake of Panicum maximum increased with increasing levels of supplementation

Development of acid‐base‐enzyme pretreatment and hydrolysis of palm oil mill effluent for bioethanol production

Nowadays, palm oil mill effluent (POME) is the main water stream pollutant in Malaysia. This paper reviews the development in the methods of bioethanol production from POME by acid-base-enzyme pretreatment and hydrolysis processes. The methods currently used to treat POME are inefficient in terms of either cost or environmental preservation. Several techniques of pretreatment of POME are discussed, where the structure of POME is broken down and made more accessible to the cellulase enzymes. Generally, hydrolysis process is used as a mild acid-base-enzyme for monomeric sugar production from POME. The acid-base-enzyme consists of H2SO4, NaOH and cellulase enzymes to run the hydrolysis process. In this paper, different strategies are also described for hydrolysis processes, including concentrate acid, dilute acid and enzymatic hydrolysis. In addition, the production of bioethanol by fermentation of sugars obtained from the hydrolysis process is discussed and it points out some key properties that should be targeted for cost-effective and innovative pretreatment processes

Impact of fermented mulberry leaf and fish offal in diet formulation of Indian major carp (Labeo rohita)

Large quantities of fish offal and mulberry leaf are generated globally. The present study aimed to understand their potential utilization in aqua diet formulation, after proper fermentation, as raw materials to replace fish meal in Indian major carp (Labeo rohita) compounded diet. Fish offal meal (FOM) and mulberry leaf meal (MLM) were used in a 2 × 3 factorial design, to evaluate (i) two different fermented mixtures with the inclusion of both FOM and MLM or only MLM and (ii) to replace three different level of dietary fishmeal: 50, 75 or 80 %. An indoor trial, to evaluate diet intake and digestibility and an outdoor trial to evaluate growth performances were impended in Indian major carp fingerlings. The results showed that FOM and MLM are promising raw materials that can be successfully used in the formulation of diet for the Indian major carp. Specifically, the addition of a proper amount of MLM in the fermentation of FOM produced a fermented mixture that could successfully replace up to 80 % of FM in the diet formulation