Quality and preference of zebu heifers for legume or elephant grass-silages with cassava peel

摘要

Threelegumes(Leucaenaleucocephala,GliricidiasepiumandEnterolobiumcyclocarpum)andelephantgrass(Pennisetumpurpureum)wereensiledwithdifferentproportionsofcassavapeel(0,25and50%onawetbasis).Physicalcharacteristicsofsilage,pHandchemicalcompositionwereassessedat21daysofensiling.Twelvezebuheiferswereusedtoassesspreferenceforthesilages.nbsp;Allsilageswerefirmintexturewhilesmellwasgreatlyinfluencedbytheoriginalfreshforage.Thecolorvariedfromlightgreenwithelephantgrasstobrownwithleucaena.ThepHrangedfrom3.6to5.4,thesilagewithcassavapeelhadthelowervalues.Crudeproteinlevelvariedfrom6.7to22.9andcrudefibrefrom12.0to24.0%.TheadditionofcassavapeeltothelegumesgreatlyreducedsilagepH,whileproteinlevelsweremaintainedatacceptablelevelsforruminants.Theorderofpreferencewas:elephantgrassleucaenagliricidiaenterolobium.nbsp;Legumeforageswiththeirhighproteinensiledwithcassavapeelcancontributenbsp;tosolvingtheproblemofpoornutritionandlowmilkproductioninzebucattleinNigeria.