Abstract

HASSEN, Abubeker; VAN NIEKERK, W.A.; RETHMAN, N.F.G.  and  TJELELE, T.J.. Intake and in vivo digestibility of Indigofera forage compared to Medicago sativa and Leucaena leucocephala by sheep. S. Afr. j. anim. sci. [online]. 2006, vol.36, n.5, pp.67-70. ISSN 2221-4062.

The voluntary intake and in vivo digestibility of forage from Indigofera species, Medicago sativa (lucerne) and Leucaena leucocephala (Leucaena) were determined using South African Mutton Merino sheep with the aim to assess the potential nutritive value of Indigofera compared to the other two species. Both lucerne and Leucaena had higher crude protein (CP) and lower neutral detergent fibre (NDF) concentrations than Indigofera. However, the apparent dry matter digestibility (DMD%) coefficients for Leucaena were lower than either Indigofera or lucerne. The forage species also differed in terms of NDF digestibility, dry matter intake (DMI) and CP intake (g/head/d), but not in terms of neutral detergent fibre intake (NDFI). The difference between Indigofera species and Leucaena forage in terms of DM intake per unit of metabolic body weight (g/W^0.75/day) and digestible organic matter intake (DOMI) was not significant, but forage DMI per unit metabolic body weight (g/W^0.75/day) of both Indigofera species and Leucaena was significantly lower than DMI of lucerne. In this specific study, lack of differences between Indigofera species and Leucaena in terms of DOMI and digestible NDFI indicates that Indigofera forage would likely support similar weight gains in ruminants as those of Leucaena, but lower than those of lucerne forage.

Keywords : Forage; Indigofera; intake; digestibility; Leucaena; lucerne.

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