Nutrient Digestibility and Growth Performance of West African Dwarf (WAD) Goats Fed Foliage Combinations of Moringa oleifera and Gliricidia sepium with Equal Proportions of A Low-cost Concentrate

Forty growing WAD goats (20 males and 20 females) were used in a 20-week digestion and growth study (complete randomized design) to investigate the potentials of a formulated low-cost concentrate with gliricidia and/or moringa fodder combinations to alleviate the acknowledged dry season nutritional stress often associated with ruminants in tropical environments. Eight animals (4 males and 4 females) were allocated to each of five experimental diets, namely; concentrate with 100 % gliricidia and 100 % moringa respectively (LC:G100M0, LC:G0M100), concentrate with gliricidia and moringa combinations at 75 to 25 %, 50 to 50 % and 25 to 75 % respectively (LC:G75M25, LC:G50M50, LC:G25M75). Performance indicators were nutrient intake, nutrient digestibility coefficients, feed conversion ratios and growth rates. Total DM intake was significantly (P 0.05) differences of these two diet combinations in CP intakes (73.90 vs. 71.10 g/d), apparent CP digestibility coefficients (86.00 vs. 84.90 %), TDN values (83.70 vs. 79.50 %), total weight gains (7.18 vs. 6.44 kg) and daily growth rates (51.30 vs. 46.00 g/d). Keywords: Digestibility, dry season nutritional stress, Gliricidia sepium, growth performance, low-cost concentrate, Moringa oleifera, WAD goats