Effect of a mixed silage of king grass (Cenchrus purpureus) and forage legumes (Leucaena leucocephala or Gliricidia sepium) on sheep intake, digestibility and nitrogen balance
A. A. Santana A , L. Cheng B G , D. M. Verdecia A , J. L. Ramírez A , S. López C , M. V. Cisneros D , I. Rugoho B E , T. M. R. Maxwell F and O. Al-Marashdeh F G
+ Author Affiliations
- Author Affiliations
A Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad de Granma, Carretera a Manzanillo km 17, Bayamo, Granma, Cuba.
B Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences, The University of Melbourne, Dookie Campus, Vic. 3647, Australia.
C Departamento de Producción Animal, Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad de León, Campus de Vegazana, León, Spain.
D Delegación Provincial del CITMA (Ministerio de Ciencia, Tecnología y Medio Ambiente de la República de Cuba), Carretera vía Santiago de Cuba km 3½, Bayamo, Granma, Cuba.
E ForageUse, Melbourne, Vic. 3064, Australia.
F Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences, PO Box 85084, Lincoln University, Lincoln 7647, Christchurch, New Zealand.
G Corresponding author. Email: long.cheng@unimelb.edu.au; Omar.Al-Marashdeh@lincoln.ac.nz
Animal Production Science 59(12) 2259-2264 https://doi.org/10.1071/AN18559
Submitted: 7 September 2018 Accepted: 19 March 2019 Published: 10 September 2019
Abstract
Ensiled king grass (Cenchrus purpureus (Schumach.) Morrone) is commonly used as feed in tropical ruminant production. However, ruminant performance can be limited by low nitrogen (N) content in tropical grass silage. A mixed feed of legume–king grass silage may be an option to improve ruminant production. We investigated the effects of feeding an ensiled mixture of king grass forage and foliage of a browse tree legume, either leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit) or gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Walp), on dry matter (DM) intake, DM digestibility, organic matter (OM) digestibility and N balance of Pelibuey sheep. Twelve male lambs 9–11 months old were blocked by initial bodyweight (33 ± 3 kg, mean ± s.d.) into three groups of four lambs and randomly assigned to one of three feed treatments: king grass silage (KS); mixed king grass and leucaena silage (KLS); and mixed king grass and gliricidia silage (KGS). Results showed that DM and OM were similar among silages. The N content was higher (P < 0.001) in KLS and KGS than in KS. DM intake and DM digestibility were higher (P < 0.001) in KLS and KGS than in KS. OM digestibility was higher (P < 0.001) in KLS than in KS. Nitrogen intake, faecal N, urine volume, urinary N, digested N, N digestibility, N retention and retained N : N intake ratio from KLS and KGS treatments were higher (P < 0.05) than from KS. A lower (P < 0.01) urinary N : N intake ratio was detected from KGS and KLS than from KS. This study demonstrated that, compared with silage made from king grass alone, legume–king grass silage mixtures can improve intake and nutrient digestibility in Pelibuey lambs. Further, N retention can be enhanced when legume–king grass silages are used as feed compared with king grass silage alone.
Additional keywords: digestion, nitrogen utilisation, tropical legume, urinary nitrogen.
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