The Nutritive Value and PalatabilityofSelected Browse Forages Mixtures from Arid and Semi-Arid Area of KenyaWhen Fed to Growing Small East African Goats

Abstract

In thisstudy the chemical composition, in vitro drymatter digestibility(IVDMD)and palatabilityof five browse foragemixtures were studied. The five foragemixtures were selected based ontheir nutritive value and IVDMDand from reported previous studies of single species.The species included Acacia brevispica, Acacia mellifera, Acacia nilotica, Zizyphusmucronata and Berchemia discolor. Invitrogas production technique was usedto determinethe rumen fermentation characteristics. Palatabilityof the browse foragemixtures was determined based on themixture’s voluntaryintakebya cafeteria approachon growing small East African goats. The crude protein (CP)content ranged from 153.9 g/kg DM in B. discolor &A. niloticaforage mixture to 184.4 g/kg dry matter (DM)in Z. mucronata& A. mellifera forage mixture, while the total fibre content as measured by NDF ranged from 313.7 g/kg DM in Z. mucronata& A. mellifera forage mixture to 440.4 g/kg DM in the forage mixture containing Z. mucronata, A. brevispica, A. mellifera& A. nilotica. The IVDMD ranged from 57.1% in B. discolor & A. nilotica to 64.0 % in the browse mixture containing Z. mucronata, A. brevispica, A. mellifera& A. nilotica. Browse mixture containing Z. mucronata, A. brevispica, A. mellifera, A. nilotica and mixture containing B. discolor, Z. mucronata, A. mellifera and A. nilotica were the most preferred by the animals and had a coefficient of preference (CoP)of 1.51 and 1.02 respectively. The two browse forage mixtures also had the highest (p<0.05) intakes (168.6 and 113.3 g DMI/6h respectively) by the goats. The results of this study indicates that browse foragemixtures arehighly palatableandhave great potential as supplements for poor-quality basal dietsin the marginal areas of the tropicsand canenhance performance of livestockespecially the small ruminants.