Effect of lablab and pigeon pea leaf meal supplementation on performance of goats fed a basal diet of haricot bean haulms

Effects of substituting noug seed cake with pigeon pea leaves or desmodium hay on performance of male dairy calves

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of substituting 50% of noug seed cake (NSC) in a concentrate mixture with pigeon pea leaves (PPL) or desmodium hay (DH) on feed intake, digestibility, body weight gain, carcass composition, and meat quality of crossbred male dairy calves. Twenty-seven male dairy calves at 7-8 months of age with an average initial body weight of 150 ± 31 kg (mean ± SD) were assigned to 3 treatments in a randomized complete block design with 9 replications. Calves were blocked based on their initial body weight and assigned to the 3 treatments. All calves were fed native pasture hay ad libitum (at ⁓10% refusal) supplemented with a concentrate containing 24% NSC (treatment 1) or supplemented with a concentrate where 50% of NSC was replaced with PPL (treatment 2) or a concentrate where 50% of NSC was replaced with DH (treatment 3). Feed and nutrient intake, apparent nutrient digestibility, body weight gain, feed conversion ratio, carcass composition, and meat quality (except texture) were similar (P > 0.05) among treatments. Treatments 2 and 3 had more (P < 0.05) tender loin and rib meat than treatment 1. It can be concluded that 50% of NSC in the concentrate mixture can be replaced with either PPL or DH in growing male crossbred dairy calves to achieve similar growth performance and carcass characteristics. Since the substitution of 50% NSC either with PPL or DH resulted in similar outcomes in almost all responses measured, it is recommended to evaluate the complete substitution of NSC either with PPL or DH on the performance of calves.

Effects of pigeon pea leaves and concentrate mixture on feed intake, milk yield, and composition of crossbred dairy cows fed native pasture hay

Protein supplements are expensive and not easily accessible under small-scale livestock production systems in Ethiopia and other developing countries, which necessitates investigating the alternative protein sources for cost-effective livestock production. Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan L. Millsp) leaves (PPLs) are rich in protein and are well-suited for feeding small ruminants; however, the effect of inclusion of PPL in the concentrate mixture (CM) on the performance of dairy cows was not well documented. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of supplementation of PPL and CM to native pasture hay-based rations on feed intake, milk yield and composition, and blood metabolites of crossbred dairy cows (Holstein × Zebu). A 4 × 4 Latin square design with three replications, balanced for carryover effects, was used for this study. The treatments included native pasture hay provided ad libitum as a basal diet, supplemented with a CM alone (T1), the inclusion of 10% of PPL in the CM (T2), 20% PPL in the CM (T3), or 30% PPL in the CM (T4). Supplements were isocaloric and isonitrogenous. Total DM intake (hay + supplement intake) was similar (P > 0.05) among treatments. Hay intake was greater (P = 0.05) for T1 and T2 than for T4, while supplement intake was the least for T1 (P < 0.05). The treatment groups T2, T3, and T4, where PPL was included, had similar (P > 0.05) supplement intake. Feed intake, milk yield and composition, feed conversion efficiency, body condition score, serum total protein, albumin, globulin, glucose, triglyceride, urea N, creatinine, and cholesterol were similar (P > 0.05) among treatments. The inclusion of up to 30% of PPL in the CM resulted in a comparable performance of crossbred dairy cows as supplementation with CM under the conditions of the current experiment. Therefore, further study is required to evaluate the effect of the inclusion of a higher level of PPL in the concentrate mixture on the performance of lactating crossbred dairy cows.

Use of bean meal (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) in goat rations for meat production

Bean meal (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) may be a viable alternative in ruminant feeding, mainly as a source of protein due to its high crude protein content. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of substitution of cottonseed cake (Gossypium hirsutum) with different levels of bean meal in goat feedlot rations on dry matter intake, digestibility, feeding behavior, performance, carcass characteristics, and hematological parameters. Twenty castrated male Repartida goats with an average initial weight of 14.7 ± 2.0 kg were allocated in a randomized block design with four treatments. The initial body weight was used to define the blocks. The treatments were different substitution levels of cottonseed cake by bean meal (0, 27.75, 64.63, and 100%) in the concentrate on a dry matter basis. The diets had a roughage:concentrate ratio of 50:50. Chopped elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum) was used as roughage, while the concentrate was composed of ground corn, mineral mix, and different levels of bean meal and cottonseed cake. There were no treatment effects on dry matter intake, feed conversion, slaughter weight, carcass weight and yield, non-carcass component yield, and hematological parameters (P > 0.05). However, for both dry matter digestibility (P = 0.001) and daily weight gain (P < 0.001), there was a negative quadratic relationship between cottonseed cake and bean meal content in the diet. Bean meal can be used in goat diets to replace cottonseed cake as the only source of protein concentrate, since it did not affect the main performance characteristics.

Evaluation of pigeon pea leaves (Cajanus cajan) replacing alfalfa meal on growth performance, carcass trait, nutrient digestibility, antioxidant capacity and biochemical parameters of rabbits

A 30-day experiment was performed to determine the effect of pigeon pea leaves (PPL) on growth performance, carcass trait, meat quality, nutrient digestibility, antioxidant capacity and biochemical parameters of growing rabbits. In a completely randomized design, PPL replaced alfalfa meal at the level of 0%, 10%, 20% and 30%, which were named PPL0 (control), PPL10, PPL20 and PML30 respectively. Two hundred New Zealand white rabbits at 6 weeks with similar weight (870.23 ± 15.98 g) were allocated to four dietary groups with five replicates containing 10 rabbits/per replicate (male). The results showed that: (a) PPL powder contained 24.26% crude protein, 4.34% crude fat, 17.86% crude fibre, 7.05% ash, 1.35% calcium, 0.28% phosphorus, 1.09% lysine and 0.20% methionine, and the chemical compositions are on DM basis; (b) the ratio of feed to gain of rabbits fed diet PPL10 was significantly better (p < 0.05) than those fed other three diets; (c) the content of longissimus dorsi (LD) moisture in the rabbits fed diets without PPL (control group) was 12% lower than that in the PPL30 diets (60.1 vs. 72.1; p < 0.05). In PPL10, PPL20 and PPL30 diets, the leg muscle (LM) b*(yellowness) value was 33%, 30% and 22.6% higher than the control group respectively. The rabbits fed diets PPL0 had lower (p < 0.05) LM crude protein and ash and higher (p < 0.05) crude fat of LD and LM as compared with those fed other diets; (d) crude protein and energy digestibility of PPL0 and PPL10 diets were significantly higher (p < 0.05) than PPL30 diets; and (e) serum glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) activity of the rabbits fed PPL10 and PPL30 diets was significantly higher (p < 0.05) than that fed PPL20 diets. Liver total antioxidant capacity (T-AOC) activity of the PPL30 groups was 1.3% higher (p < 0.05) than the PPL10 group. Additionally, the control group (PPL0) had the highest (p < 0.05) blood urea nitrogen (BUN), total cholesterol (TCHO) and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDLC) content compared with the groups supplemented with PPL. The PPL30 group had the highest (p < 0.05) triiodothyronine (T₃ ) and tetraiodothyroxine (T₄ ) value among the dietary groups.