Nutritional Evaluation of Fallen Tree Leaves as Source of Roughage in Complete Feed Blocks for Sheep

Present study evaluate the effect of fallen tree leaves (FTL) inclusion (100, 200 and 300 g/kg diet) in high roughage feed block on nutrient utilization, rumen fermentation and body condition score (BCS) of sheep to utilize forest wastes. Twenty-four Malpura rams were fed in four groups for 70 days, on one of the complete feed block (CFB) diet with roughage-to-concentrate ratio of 60:40. Pearl millet stover (PMS), a basal roughage in control diet (FTL-0) was replaced with dried FTL at 10 (FTL- 10), 20 (FTL-20) or 30 (FTL-30) parts in other three diets. The complete feed mixtures were compressed at 3000 psi for block preparation by a feed block-making machine. Dry matter intake (kg/100 kg BW) ranged between 2.8 (FTL-30) to 3.3 (FTL-10) and digestibility of DM was similar, while OM digestibility increased linearly (P<0.05). A quadratic (P=0.066) increase in CP digestibility was apparent due to FTL inclusion. Microbial-N supply (g/day) was least (2.8) in sheep fed FTL-30 and ranged between 4.3 to 4.9 g/day in other three diets. Mean rumen fluid pH ranged between 6.55 to 6.75, ammonia-N and total-N (mg/dl) between 16.6–21.9 mg and 87.2–122.1 mg, respectively. FTL inclusion in CFB-diets increased ammonia-N and total-N but VFA concentrations did not change. Ciliate protozoa population increased linearly (P<0.05) with FTL inclusion levels. Body weight and BCS was not different between FTL-0 and FTL-20 but FTL-30 fed animals lost 11% in BW, which resulted a decline (P<0.001) in net gain of BW and BCS after 70 days of feeding. FTL-30 diet increased (P<0.05) concentration of nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) in serum, show an energy deficit comparative to other diets. It is concluded that under feed scarcity periods, FTL can safely be used up to 20% level as a roughage component of CFB diets.