Effects of mixed Gmelina arborea and Moringa oleifera leaf meal inclusion on growth performance and blood profile of Red Sokoto bucks fed Digitaria smutsii hay based diets

Abstract

The use of browse plants as supplement have been shown to enhance intake, improve growth
rate and increase reproduction in ruminants. However, most of these forage trees have not
been widely used because they often contain anti-nutritional compounds that have
deleterious effects on animal performance Moringa oleifera and Gmelina arborea are
widely distributed in many locations in the tropics. Moringa oleifera and Gmelina arborea
are promising plants which could contribute to increased intake of some essential nutrients
and health-promoting phytochemicals and also provide cheaper alternative forages of high
quality for ruminants. The study was carried out to investigate the effect of mixed Gmelina
arborea and Moringa oleifera (GMMO) leaf meal inclusion on the growth performance and
blood profile of goats fed Digitaria smutsii hay based diets. Twenty intact Red Sokoto bucks
between 4-5 months of age with an average weight of 12.00 kg were used. The bucks were
randomly allocated to four treatments with five animals per treatment in a completely
randomized design. Gmelina arborea and Moringa oleifera leaf meals were mixed at ratio of
75 and 25% respectively and included at 0, 10, 20 and 30% in a 40% Digitaria smutsii hay
base. Each level of inclusion serves as a dietary treatment. The parameters measured were
feed intake, body weight gain, haematological and biochemical constituents. Feed cost and
proximate analysis of GMMO were also carried out. The results showed that inclusion of
GMMO leaf meal improved dry matter intake of bucks. Dry matter intake ranged from
310.28 g/d in T to 372.61 g/d in T . Weight gain and average daily gain were significant 1 3
(P<0.05) higher in bucks fed 20% GMMO leaf meal (4.20kg and 46.67 g/d) respectively than
the other treatments. Regression analysis showed 25% inclusion as the optimal level of
GMMO leaf meal inclusion in the diets of growing bucks. The haematological and
biochemical parameters of Red Sokoto bucks measured were within the normal range for
healthy goats. The cost-benefit analysis showed that goats fed 20% GMMO leaf meal gave
more profit than those on other treatments. Net profit was highest in 20% followed by 30%,
10% and 0% inclusion (N1108.30, N 853.90, N506.20 and N485.00) respectively. This study
concludes that the mixture of gmelina and moringa leaf meal can be included at 25% in the
diets of Red Sokoto bucks for improved productivity.