Feed Intake, Nutrient Utilization and Growth Rate of Jamunapari Goats Fed Sundried Leucaena leucocephala

In a feeding trial, Jamunapari male kids (18) of about 4 months age were equally divided into two groups of nine animals each. Goats in the experimental group were fed sun-dried pelleted Leucaena leucocephala leaves and those in the control group were offered a conventional diet without Leucaena leaves as per Kearl (1982) recommendations for a period of 6 months. Daily dry matter intake DMI/100 kg BW was $3.13{\pm}0.04kg$ in the Leucaena group and $3.30{\pm}0.05kg$ in the control. There were significant (p < 0.01) differences in the apparent digestibilities of DM, OM, CP, EE, CF and NFE being lower in the Leucaena group. Contents of digestible crude protein (DCP) and total digestible nutrients (TDN) were 11.40 and 52.20%, respectively, in the Leucaena group and 14.04 and 66.10%, respectively in the control. The nitrogen in the Leucaena group was not well utilized as compared to the control, though kids were in positive nitrogen balance in both the groups. The average daily weight gain of kids on pelleted Leucaena was $29.95{\pm}2.60g$ as against $42.09{\pm}3.24g$ observed in the control. The mean DMI/kg LW gain was significantly (p < 0.01) higher in the Leucaena group ($14.70{\pm}0.78kg$) as compared to the control ($11.55{\pm}0.46kg$). The Hb, BUN, SGOT and SGPT concentrations were statistically similar in both the groups. Histopathological examination of thyroid gland of goats sacrificed at the end of experiment did not reveal any signs of colloidal goitre associated with mimosine toxicity. No significant pathological alterations were observed in vital organs irrespective of dietary treatment. Sundried, pelleted Leucaena foliage appears to be a promising potential feed for growing goats without any significant deleterious effect.