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A 90 days study was conducted to investigate the effect of Chromolaena odorata leaf meal as protein supplement on the growth performance, carcass characteristics and meat quality of Small East African (SEA) goats. Sixteen entire male goats aged 12 to 15 months with mean initial weight of 13.10 ± 0.72 kg were randomly allocated to four dietary treatments in a completely randomized design. Four dietary treatments D1, D2, D3 and D4 were formulated with inclusion of Chromolaena odorata leaf meal at 0%, 5.0%, 10.0% and 15.0% levels, respectively. The diets had isocaloric and isonitrogenous ranging from 10.14 to 11.57 ME (MJ/Kg DM) and 15.39 to 16.61% crude protein (CP), respectively. Chromolaena odorata leaf meal had CP ranging from 13 to 24%, gross energy from 2.61 to 3.15 kcal/g, calcium 0.98 to 1.14% and phosphorus from 0.19 to 0.29%. The average dry matter intake values were 378.86 g/day, 379.29 g/day, 343.38 g/day and 368.31 g/day for D1, D2, D3 and D4, respectively. Growth rates were significantly (p<0.0001) influenced by diets. Growth rate values were 35.28 g/day, 54.18 g/day, 27.78 g/day and 25.00 g/d for D1, D2, D3 and D4, respectively. Goats supplemented with D2 had the highest feed conversion efficiency requiring 7.0 g DM of feed to produce one gram of weight gain. The diet did not significantly (p>0.05) influence the carcass characteristics, non carcass components and meat quality of SEA goats. Goats supplemented with D1 and D2 had relatively heavier carcass and tissue weight. It can be concluded that Chromolaena odorata leaf meal has nutritional profile similar to ingredients used in formulation of livestock feeds hence could be incorporated in goats` diet. The optimum level of inclusion should not exceed 5% for better growth performance of SEA goats. |
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