Abstract
Lesser known tree leaf meal based diet was fed to West Africa dwarf goats (n = 28) in a completely randomized design model for a 56 day period. The lesser known tree leaves used includes Akee apple (Diet, A), Etanda africana (Diet B), Gliricidia sepium (Diet, C) and Adansonia digitata (Diet, D). The goats were housed in a metabolism cage; seven goats were fed each diet while the voluntary feed intake and digestibility coefficient of various chemical components were measured. The dry matter intake which are similar (P>0.05) was numerically higher in Diet A followed closely by D, C and B in that order. The crude protein intake was significantly higher in Diet A compared to Diets C and D which are similar (P>0.05) while the least crude protein intake was recorded for Diet B. The intake of the fibre fractions in Diet A (NDF, ADF and lignin) was significantly higher than that of Diets B, C and D and that of Diets C and D were significantly higher than that of Diet B. The apparent digestibility of the cell wall fraction was increased in Diets A, B and C. The apparent digestibility coefficient of acid detergent fibre and neutral detergent fibre also increased in Diets B, C and D. The crude protein digestibility coefficient was highest in Diets B, C, A and D in that order. The ether extract digestibility followed similar trend. The apparent lignin digestibility coefficient was increased in all cases. The magnitude and significance of differences varied among diets. Feed efficiency was greater (P<0.05) (8.10, 6.39, 5.30 and 2.30) for C, A, D, and B respectively. The weight gain of the experimental animals followed similar trend. In conclusion, the increases in the nutritive value obtained from feeding Etanda Africana leaf meal based diet was comparable to those of D (Control) (Adansonia digitata) and other diets. Using lesser known tropical tree leaf meal in a mixed ration is more appropriate to the condition encountered on farm in Africa.
