Intake, digestion and rumen parameters of goats fed mature veld hay ground with deep litter poultry manure and supplemented with graded levels of poorly managed groundnut hay

摘要

TenmatureSmallEastAfricandoesweighing26quot;3.2kgwereallocatedtotwolatinsquarestoinvestigatethepotentialofweather-damagedgroundnuthayasasupplementinadietforgoats.Thebasaldietofferedat900g/d/goatconsistedofmatureveldhaygroundwithdriedpoultrylitterandthedailysupplementswere0,135,270,405and900gofgroundnuthay.Inclusionofgroundnuthayresultedinadecreaseinintakeofthebasaldietattherateof37gforevery100gofgroundnuthayeatenbuttotaldrymatterintakewasincreased.Thelevelsofammonia-nitrogenandvolatilefattyacidsintherumensofthegoatswerelowerthanthoseneededforhighruminantproductivity(2-8mgNH3-Nand31-73mmole/l).Rumendegradabilityofthebasaldietwasnotaffectedbytheamountofgroundnuthayofferedoreatenbutinvivodrymatterdigestibilitieswere37,42,45,50and55%(sed1.9)fordietsinwhich0,135,270,405and900gofgroundnuthaywereoffered.Itwasconcludedthatweatherdamagedgroundnuthaydoesnotactasasupplementbutratherasasubstituteformatureveldhaydietsgiventomaturegoats,despiteitspalatabilityandcontentofreadilydegradablecellwall.