- Email: [email protected]
Effects of Calliandra calothyrsus and Leucaena leucocephala supplementary feeding on goat production in Cameroon
Small Ruminant Research 65 (2006) 31–37
Effects of Calliandra calothyrsus and Leucaena leucocephala supplementary feeding on goat production in Cameroon E. Tedonkeng Pamo a,∗ , F. Tendonkeng a , J.R. Kana a , B. Boukila b , A.S. Nanda c b
a Animal Nutrition Laboratory, Department of Animal Production, FASA, University of Dschang, P.O. Box 222, Dschang, Cameroon Institut National Sup´erieur d’Agronomie et de Biotechnologie (INSAB), Universit´e des Sciences et Techniques de Masuku, B.P. 941, Gabon c Department of Animal Reproduction, Gynaecology & Obstetrics, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141004, India
Received 19 March 2004; received in revised form 3 May 2005; accepted 12 May 2005 Available online 29 June 2005
Abstract The study of the effect of Calliandra calothyrsus and Leucaena leucocephala supplementary feeding multipurpose leguminous tree (MPLT) on goat production in Cameroon was conducted at Dschang University research farm on 24 West African dwarf goats of 2–3 years of age, each in the dry season (November 2001 to April 2002) and rainy season (March to September 2003). At the beginning, two bucks were introduced to the herd for 2 months and breeding allowed. The males were removed thereafter and the herd divided in two groups. One group was subjected to supplementary feeding with C. calothyrsus and L. leucocephala leaves harvested in the morning, mixed in equal quantities by weight and distributed at the rate of 800 g per goat and per day. The other group not supplemented, thus served as control. Animals were weighed at the beginning of the supplementation, before kidding, after kidding and every 2 weeks until weaning. Supplementation reduced the incidence of abortion and increased the overall yield of kid per animal. During the 3 months postpartum period, the body weight decreased as compared to that recorded at parturition but the supplemented goats continued to have 11–15% more body weight than their respective control during the dry season whereas during the rainy season the difference between supplemented and non-supplemented goats were not so elaborated. This indicates the effect of the scope and importance of the supplementation for those animals particularly during the dry season. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: West African dwarf goat; Calliandra calothyrsus; Leucaena leucocephala; Supplementation; Growth; Reproduction; Cameroon
1. Introduction ∗
Corresponding author. Tel.: +237 345 14 62; mobile: +237 954 54 32; fax: +237 345 12 02. E-mail addresses: pamo [email protected], [email protected] (E.T. Pamo). 0921-4488/$ – see front matter © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.smallrumres.2005.05.023
West African dwarf goat (WADG) is an integral component of Cameroonian livestock that contributes substantially to the national economy. The production potential of the WADG is, however, very low (Pamo et
32
E.T. Pamo et al. / Small Ruminant Research 65 (2006) 31–37
al., 2002), mainly because of lack of proper nutrition. The quantity, and mainly the quality of the consumed forage restrict animal growth rate production and reproduction in several ruminants species (Bosman et al., 1995; Areghore, 1995; Pamo et al., 2001; Makkar, 2002). Nitrogen content is generally very low and fibre content is high both in grass and crop residues, which form the basis of animal diet in the African tropical climatic zones particularly during the dry season. Supplementation of these roughages is a promising and best way of alleviating nutrient deficiencies in ruminant livestock. Different kinds of supplementary feeding have been advocated to boost goat production (Adejumo and Ademosum, 1991; Palmer and Tatang, 1996) of which supplementary feeding with leguminous tree leaves viz. Calliandra and Leucaena are of high merit because of their high biomass (AFNETA, 1991; Duguma et al., 1994), high potential for soil fertility improvement (AFNETA, 1991; Hussain et al., 1991; Duguma et al., 1994) and high potential as forage (NAS, 1979; Mecha and Adegbola, 1980; Brewbaker, 1986; Topps, 1992). The fodder trees are high in protein compared to grasses (Rittner and Reed, 1992), remain green longer into the dry season and have a nutritive value that varies little from one season to another in Africa. In deed legume tree, leaves maintain higher protein and mineral contents during their growth, whereas these nutrients decline with progress to maturity in grasses. Studies have revealed that leguminous trees with good fodder value like Leucaena and Calliandra have a vast potential for growth in sub-Saharan Africa including Cameroon (Pamo et al., 2002). Sound information on the usefulness of feeding multipurpose leguminous tree (MPLT) leaves on production of WADG is lacking particularly in Cameroon and Central Africa sub-region. The present study was, therefore, undertaken to evaluate the effects of supplementary feeding of Calliandra calothyrsus and Leucaena leucocephala leaves on growth and production of West African dwarf goat.
2. Material and methods The study was conducted at Dschang University animal farm on 24 West African dwarf goats each in dry (November 2001 to April 2002) and in rainy (March
to September 2003) seasons. West African dwarf goat is an animal with disproportionately short leg and are common in and near the tropical forest belt in West and Central Africa, but its distribution does not extend to East Africa (Steele, 1996). These goats are about 50 cm in height and 20–30 kg in weight, tending to be larger as the savannah zone is approached. Growth rate and milk yield are very low, and they breed at all time of the year. They are used almost exclusively for meat production, and the skin is also usually eaten. Its most useful peculiarities are its adaptation to the humid tropical environment, and resistance to trypanosomiasis (Devendra and Burns, 1983). Animals of 2–3 years of age and 14–25 kg body weights were procured from the local market and were considered as fertile because of having kidded at least once. They were dewormed with Levamisol, injected i.m. at the rate of 1 ml/10 kg body weight at their introduction on the farm. They grazed on mixed pasture comprised of Brachiaria ruziziensis and Pennisetum purpureum between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. When goats came back from the pasture, they were kept in pens of five to seven each and were fed Trypsacum grass ad libitum. After about a month, two bucks were introduced in the herd for 2 months and breeding allowed. The males were removed thereafter. Goats were divided into two equal groups of 12 animals each. One group was supplemented while the other one did not receive any supplement and served as control. To avoid dominance behaviour and to ensure equal access to the supplement, goats with less than or more than 16 kg body weight were put in separate pens. On the basis of previous studies carried out in the region (Pamo et al., 2002, 2004), the mixture of C. calothyrsus and L. leucocephala leaves were harvested in the morning and mixed in equal quantities by weight, was left in the pens at the rate of 800 g per goat for eating at night. The following observations were made: (i) Intake of the supplement was calculated from its leftover every morning. (ii) Goats were weighed using electronic balance (HDK 60 ± 0.01 kg) on the day of the start of supplementation, just before and after kidding and every 2 weeks thereafter up to 3 months. (iii) The number of kids born, along with their sex, was recorded.
E.T. Pamo et al. / Small Ruminant Research 65 (2006) 31–37
33
females as well as males relatively subfertile (Lindsay et al., 1993) might have caused this phenomenon. The heavier goats (>16 kg) experienced more pregnancies (95.6% versus 84%) than the lighter (<16 kg) ones probably due to the later’s inability to either conceive or to sustain pregnancy (Ndlovu, 1992). Apparently, the goats with less weight were underweight for their age and were not as fertile as their normal weight counterparts. This could be the effect of malnutrition and/or any other factor(s) affecting their general health. In both seasons, abortions were recorded in 33% of the unsupplemented goats as compared to only 5% of the supplemented ones. Malnutrition has been reported as a versatile cause of abortion and still birth (Devendra and Burns, 1983; Mukundan et al., 1983; Ademosum et al., 1988). The supplementary feeding with the MPLT foliage appeared to have drastically lowered the abortion rate. While 24 supplemented goats yielded 24 kids, only 20 kids were obtained from the unsupplemented goats during both seasons. There was no mortality in the kids born in the two animal groups and in the two seasons. Supplementation with multipurpose leguminous tree browse particularly helped (a) in substantially reducing the incidence of abortion and (b) in the overall yield of kids per animal. Further, the rainy season proved to be much more beneficial in terms of high pregnancy rate than the dry season. This was equally observed by Amoah and Gelaye (1990) and by Kabuga and Akowuah (1991) and was related to the good quality of forage of the rainy season. The body weight of various groups of goats at different stages of reproduction is given in Table 2 and profile
(iv) Mortality of the kids in different groups was also recorded. Data were analysed statistically (Steel and Torrie, 1980) and the effects of supplementary feeding in dry and rainy seasons on the various aspects studied, as enumerated above, were evaluated.
3. Results and discussion On average the goats consumed between 700 and 800 g of the foliage supplement (MPLT) per head per day during the entire study period. These quantities represent almost the total amount of the supplement and the level of consumption is a clear indication of the level of acceptability of Calliandra and Leucaena by WADG. The stage of reproduction of WADG or the season had no significant effect on the quantity of supplement consumed. The detail of the reproductive performance of goats on various feeding schedules in different seasons is given in Table 1. Similar proportions of goats in the control and the supplemented groups became pregnant. This may be due to the fact that the conceptions took place before the supplementation started. Substantially higher proportion of goats (91.7%) became pregnant during rainy season as compared to that (87.5%) recorded during dry season. Poor nutritive value of the pasture during dry season (Gonzalez-Reyna et al., 1991; Delgadillo et al., 1998) summer stress (Mbayahaga et al., 1998; Dobson and Smith, 1998), which render the
Table 1 Reproductive performance of Cameroon West African dwarf goats in different seasons and on different feeding regimes Season Control Dry Rainy Supplemented Dry Rainy
Pregnant
Abortion
Number of kids
Males
Females
>16 kg (n = 6) <16 kg (n = 6)
5 6
2 2
4 4
3 2
1 2
>16 kg (n = 6) <16 kg (n = 6)
6 5
1 1
6 6
3 3
3 3
>16 kg (n = 5) <16 kg (n = 7)
5 5
0 1
5 5
3 3
2 2
>16 kg (n = 6) <16 kg (n = 6)
6 5
0 0
7 7
4 3
3 4
± ± ± ± 21.3 21.7 23.0 24.7 1.0a 1.5a 2.7a 3.1a ± ± ± ± 21.0 21.3 22.1 24.2 1.0a 1.5a 2.9a 3.5a Means within the same weight group and season in each column bearing different superscripts (a and b) are significantly different (P < 0.05).
± ± ± ± 20.7 20.8 21.7 23.6 1.1a 0.6a 2.5a 3.5a ± ± ± ± 20.4 20.9 21.6 23.3 1.4a 1.3a 2.4a 3.7a ± ± ± ± 20.3 20.5 21.5 22.9 1.2a 1.4a 2.2a 3.5a ± ± ± ± 19.7 20.2 21.2 22.7 1.3a 0.4a 1.9a 3.2a ± ± ± ± Control (<16 kg) (n = 6) Supplemented (<16 kg) (n = 6) Control (>16 kg) (n = 6) Supplemented (>16 kg) (n = 6) Rainy
14.1 14.5 19.4 19.6
21.4 21.7 24.7 25.5
± ± ± ±
1.9a 0.6a 1.6a 3.2a 1.5a 1.4a 2.2a 2.4a ± ± ± ±
19.6 19.8 22.4 23.6
± ± ± ± 16.6 17.4 20.6 21.8
12
1.6a 1.2a 4.6a 2.2a ± ± ± ± 15.6 17.8 19.8 21.3
10
1.0a 2.0a 4.6a 2.0a ± ± ± ± 15.8 17.9 19.3 21.5
8
0.9a 2.1a 4.3a 2.0a ± ± ± ± 16.5 18.6 19.8 22.1
6
0.9a 1.8a 4.2a 2.2a ± ± ± ± 16.7 18.4 19.9 22.9
4
0.7a 1.3a 4.3a 1.9a ± ± ± ± 2
16.3 19.3 20.7 23.3 0.2a 1.1b 4.5a 1.7a ± ± ± ± Control (<16 kg) (n = 6) Supplemented (<16 kg) (n = 7) Control (>16 kg) (n = 6) Supplemented (>16 kg) (n = 5) Dry
13.7 14.9 20.6 19.7
18.2 21.8 23.4 26.5
0.2a 1.0b 4.3a 1.7a ± ± ± ± 1.7a 1.1a 2.9a 1.9a ± ± ± ±
17.0 20.4 22.0 24.5
Weeks post partum At kidding Before kidding At beginning Size of animals Season
Table 2 Change of body weight in Cameroon West African dwarf goats in different seasons and different feeding regimes
1.0a 1.7a 2.0a 3.2a
E.T. Pamo et al. / Small Ruminant Research 65 (2006) 31–37 1.4a 1.5a 4.7a 1.4a
34
of mother’s body weight losses after parturition during the dry and rainy season are shown in Figs. 1 and 2. All the supplemented goats gained more weight than controls. Compared to respective controls, the overall weight gain was 48% versus 43% in the light-weight goats and 32.3 versus 20.5% in the heavy weight group. The lighter goats gained much more weight (46.5% versus 32.6%) during the dry season. These animals were still growing. During this period, the good nutritive value of the supplement lead to a more efficient conversion of the poor quality of grass forage of the pasture into important animal product. During the rainy season the difference (53 versus 50%) was not important. In this period, the nutritive value of the forage in the pasture and particularly their protein content was high. Animals fed solely pasture had a well balanced diet and the effect of the supplement, despite their high quality could not be evident. Similarly, the heavier goats gained much more weight than controls during the dry period (34.5% versus 13.6%) but not much different during rainy (30% versus 27%). This shows that MPTL supplementary feeding during pregnancy helped weight gain and was especially beneficial during the dry season probably because of poor quality and reduced quantity of the grasses available during the dry period. The light animals gained much more weight during pregnancy as compared to the heavy counterparts. It would imply that the supplementary feeding would be much more beneficial to the underweight goats than their heavy weight controls. This could be explained by the compensatory growth performance. There was no significant weight-loss at kidding in the two groups and in the two seasons. However, compared to rainy season, the weight-loss was much less during the dry season in light (6.4% versus 8.5%) and heavier goats (6.8% versus 8.3%). On average, the control and the supplemented goats lost similar weight (7.5% versus 7.4%) at kidding. During the three months post-kidding period, the supplemented goats continued to have 11–15% more body weight than their respective unsupplemented controls in the dry period. During the rainy season however, the post-kidding body weight differences between the supplemented and the no-supplemented goats were not important (Figs. 1 and 2). After parturition, metabolic requirements increase in relation to the lactation process and this can induce a decrease in the body weight if the nutritional level is not accurately
E.T. Pamo et al. / Small Ruminant Research 65 (2006) 31–37
35
Fig. 1. Change of body weight in Cameroon West African dwarf goats in the dry seasons with different feeding regimes.
balanced (Sahlu et al., 2004; Luo et al., 2004). The relatively high difference in body weight observed in the dry season between the supplemented group and their respective control is an indication of the type and equally of forage consumed by goats during this period. The body weight losses, which are generally drastic in lactating females and may influence the
resumption of oestrus and ovarian activity (Lindsay et al., 1993) were not acute, because the dry season was not so severe. During the rainy season, the quality of forage was rather excellent. As a result, supplementation did not produce any major difference between the supplemented group and the control. Our results are in agreement with that of Mbayahaga
Fig. 2. Change of body weight in Cameroon West African dwarf goats in the rainy seasons with different feeding regimes.
36
E.T. Pamo et al. / Small Ruminant Research 65 (2006) 31–37
et al. (1998) who observed after parturition a body weight-loss of 11.1 ± 6.8% on Burundian goats during the dry season. They are relatively higher as compared to the loss of 4.0 ± 1.7% observed in the dry season by Ndlovu (1992) after parturition on Zimbabwe goats. 4. Conclusion The beneficial effects of supplementary feeding with multipurpose leguminous tree browse on goat production in Cameroon were demonstrated in this study. It helps substantially reducing the incidence of abortion and increases the overall yield of kids per animal. Pregnancy rate was higher during the rainy season than in the dry season. During the post-kidding period supplemented goats continue to have 11–15% more body weight than their respective unsupplemented control during the dry season, while in the rainy season body weight among the two groups was similar. Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the University of Dschang and the Ministry of Higher Education of Cameroon for their financial support to the present work.
References Adejumo, J.O., Ademosum, A.A., 1991. Utilization of Leucaena as supplement for growing dwarf sheep and goats in the humid zone of West Africa. Small Rumin. Res. 5, 75–82. Ademosum, A.A., Boaman, H.G., Jansen, H.J., 1988. Nutritional studies with West African dwarf goat in humid tropics. In: Smith, O.B., Bosman, H.G. (Eds.), Goat Production in the Humid Tropics. Proc. Workshop, University of Ife, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, Wageningen, PUDOC, 20–24 July, pp. 21–28. AFNETA, 1991. Annual Technical Report, Alley Farming Network for Tropical Africa. International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria. Amoah, E.A., Gelaye, S., 1990. Reproductive performance of female goats in south pacific countries. Small Rumin. Res. 3, 257–267. Areghore, E.M., 1995. Effect of sex on growth rate, voluntary feed intake and nutrient digestibility of West African dwarf goats fed crop residue rations. Small Rumin. Res. 15, 217–221. Bosman, H.G., Versteegden, C.J.G.M., Odeyinka, S.M., Tolkam, B.J., 1995. Effect of amount offered on intake, digestibility and value of Gliricidia sepium and Leucaena leucocephala for West African dwarf goats. Small Rumin. Res. 15, 247–256.
Brewbaker, I.J., 1986. Nitrogen trees fixing, trees fodder and browse in Africa. In: Kang, B.T., Reynolds, I. (Eds.), Alley Farming in the Humid and Sub-Humid Tropics. IDRC, Ottawa, Canada. Devendra, C., Burns, M., 1983. Goat production in the tropics. In: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, 176 pp. Delgadillo, J.A., Flores, J.A., Villearreal, D., Flores, M.J., Hoyos, G., Cheminaux, P., Malpaux, B., 1998. Length of season of postpartum anestrus in goats in subtropical Mexico: effect of season of parturition and duration of nursing. Theriogenology 49, 1209–1218. Dobson, H., Smith, R.F., 1998. Stress and subfertility. Reprod. Domest. Anim. 33, 107–111. Duguma, B., Tonye, J., Kanmegni, J., Manga, T., Enoch, T., 1994. Growth of ten multipurpose trees species on acid soils in Sangmelima, Cameroon. Agrofor. Syst. 27, 107–119. Gonzalez-Reyna, A., Valencia Mendez, J., Foote, W.C., Murphy, B.D., 1991. Hair sheep in Mexico: reproduction in the Pelibuey sheep. Anim. Breed. Abstr. 59, 509–524. Hussain, J., Jabar, A., Chugittai, E.A., Rasui, G., 1991. Effect of phosphorus fertilization on growth of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam) de Wit Leucaena. Res. Rep. 12, 86–88. Kabuga, J.J., Akowuah, F., 1991. Reproductive performance of Djallonke X Sahelian crossbred ewes in Ghana. Small Rumin. Res. 5, 245–254. Lindsay, D.R., Martin, G.B., William, I.H., 1993. Nutrition and reproduction. In: King, G.J. (Ed.), Reproduction in domesticated animals. World Anim. Sci, pp. 459–491. Luo, J., Goetsch, A.L., Nsahlai, I.V., Moore, J.E., Galyean, M.L., Johnson, Z.B., Sahlu, T., Ferrell, C.L., Owens, F.N., 2004. Prediction of voluntary feed intake by lactating Angora, growing and mature goats. Small Rumin. Res. 53, 357– 378. Makkar, H.P.S., 2000. Application of the in vitro method in the evaluation of feed resources, and enhancement of nutritional value of tannin-rich tree/browse leaves and agro-industrial by-products. In: Development and Field Evaluation of Animal Feed Supplementation Packages. Proceeding of the final review meeting of an IAEA Technical Co-operation Regional AFRA Project organized by the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture and held in Cairo, Egypt, 25–29 November, pp. 23–40. Mbayahaga, J., Mandiki, S.N.M., Bister, J.L., Paquay, R., 1998. Body weight, oestrus and ovarian activity in local Burundian ewes and goats after parturition in the dry season. Anim. Reprod. Sci. 51, 289–300. Mecha, I., Adegbola, T.A., 1980. Chemical composition of some southern Nigerian forages eaten by goats. In: Le Herou, H.N. (Ed.), Browse in Africa, the Current State of Knowledge. International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, pp. 261–297. Mukundan, G., Bhat, P.N., Nandakumaran, B., Khan, B.V., 1983. Factor affecting pre-weaning body weights in Malabari goats and its Saanen half-breds. Indian J. Anim. Sci. 53 (8), 895– 897. NAS, 1979. Tropical legumes: resources for the future. Natl. Acad. Sci., Washington, DC, USA, 332 pp.
E.T. Pamo et al. / Small Ruminant Research 65 (2006) 31–37 Ndlovu, L.R., 1992. Reproductive performance of indigenous goats in traditionally managed flocks in north-east of Zimbabwe. In: Rey, B., Lebbie, S.H.B., Reynolds, L. (Eds.), Small Ruminant Research and Development in Africa. ILRAD, Nairobi, Kenya, pp. 177–183. Palmer, B., Tatang, M.I., 1996. Calliandra calothyrsus forage for the tropics—a current assessment. In: Evans, D.O. (Ed.), Proceeding International Workshop on the Genus Calliandra. Winrock Internat, Bogor, Indonesia, pp. 183–194. Pamo, T.E., Kennang, T., Kangmo, M.V., 2001. Etude compar´ee des performances pond´erales des Ch`evres Naines de Guin´ee suppl´ement´ees au Leuceuna leucocephala, au Gliricidia sepium ou au tourteau de coton dans l’uest-Cameroon. Tropicultura 19, 10–14. Pamo, T.E., Tendonkeng, F., Kadjio, J.T.T., Kwami, H.N., Taboum, R.K., Kana, J.R., Tegodjeu, A., 2000. Evaluation of the comparative growth and reproductive performance of West African dwarf goat in the Western Highland of Cameroon. In: Development and Field Evaluation of Animal Feed Supplementation Packages. Proceeding of the final review meeting of an IAEA Technical Co-operation Regional AFRA Project organized by the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food
37
and Agriculture and held in Cairo, Egypt, 25–29 November, pp. 87–96. Pamo, T.E., Tendonkeng, F., Kana, J.R., Loyem, P.K., Tchapga, E., Fotie, F.K., 2004. Effet de diff´erents niveaux de suppl´ementation avec Leucaena leucocephala sur la croissance pond´erale chez la ch`evre naine de Guin´ee. Revue d’Elev. Med. Vet. 57 (1–2), 107–112. Rittner, U., Reed, J.D., 1992. Phenolics and in vitro digestibility of protein and fibre in West African browse. J. Sci. Food Agric. 58, 21–28. Sahlu, T., Goetsch, A.L., Luo, J., Nsahlai, I.V., Moore, J.E., Galyean, M.L., Owens, F.N., Ferrell, C.L., Johnson, Z.B., 2004. Nutrient requirements of goats: developed equations, other considerations and future research to improve them. Small Rumin. Res. 53, 191–219. Steel, R.G., Torrie, J.H., 1980. Principles and procedures of statistics. McGraw Hill Book C, New York, 633 pp. Steele, M., 1996. Goats. In: Coste, R. (Ed.), The Tropical Agriculturalist. CTA, Macmillan, 152 pp. Topps, J.H., 1992. Potential, composition and use of legume shrubs and trees as fodders for livestock in tropics. J. Agric. Sci. Camb. 118, 1–18.
Effects of Calliandra calothyrsus and Leucaena leucocephala supplementary feeding on goat production in Cameroon E. Tedonkeng Pamo a,∗ , F. Tendonkeng a , J.R. Kana a , B. Boukila b , A.S. Nanda c b
a Animal Nutrition Laboratory, Department of Animal Production, FASA, University of Dschang, P.O. Box 222, Dschang, Cameroon Institut National Sup´erieur d’Agronomie et de Biotechnologie (INSAB), Universit´e des Sciences et Techniques de Masuku, B.P. 941, Gabon c Department of Animal Reproduction, Gynaecology & Obstetrics, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana 141004, India
Received 19 March 2004; received in revised form 3 May 2005; accepted 12 May 2005 Available online 29 June 2005
Abstract The study of the effect of Calliandra calothyrsus and Leucaena leucocephala supplementary feeding multipurpose leguminous tree (MPLT) on goat production in Cameroon was conducted at Dschang University research farm on 24 West African dwarf goats of 2–3 years of age, each in the dry season (November 2001 to April 2002) and rainy season (March to September 2003). At the beginning, two bucks were introduced to the herd for 2 months and breeding allowed. The males were removed thereafter and the herd divided in two groups. One group was subjected to supplementary feeding with C. calothyrsus and L. leucocephala leaves harvested in the morning, mixed in equal quantities by weight and distributed at the rate of 800 g per goat and per day. The other group not supplemented, thus served as control. Animals were weighed at the beginning of the supplementation, before kidding, after kidding and every 2 weeks until weaning. Supplementation reduced the incidence of abortion and increased the overall yield of kid per animal. During the 3 months postpartum period, the body weight decreased as compared to that recorded at parturition but the supplemented goats continued to have 11–15% more body weight than their respective control during the dry season whereas during the rainy season the difference between supplemented and non-supplemented goats were not so elaborated. This indicates the effect of the scope and importance of the supplementation for those animals particularly during the dry season. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Keywords: West African dwarf goat; Calliandra calothyrsus; Leucaena leucocephala; Supplementation; Growth; Reproduction; Cameroon
1. Introduction ∗
Corresponding author. Tel.: +237 345 14 62; mobile: +237 954 54 32; fax: +237 345 12 02. E-mail addresses: pamo [email protected], [email protected] (E.T. Pamo). 0921-4488/$ – see front matter © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.smallrumres.2005.05.023
West African dwarf goat (WADG) is an integral component of Cameroonian livestock that contributes substantially to the national economy. The production potential of the WADG is, however, very low (Pamo et
32
E.T. Pamo et al. / Small Ruminant Research 65 (2006) 31–37
al., 2002), mainly because of lack of proper nutrition. The quantity, and mainly the quality of the consumed forage restrict animal growth rate production and reproduction in several ruminants species (Bosman et al., 1995; Areghore, 1995; Pamo et al., 2001; Makkar, 2002). Nitrogen content is generally very low and fibre content is high both in grass and crop residues, which form the basis of animal diet in the African tropical climatic zones particularly during the dry season. Supplementation of these roughages is a promising and best way of alleviating nutrient deficiencies in ruminant livestock. Different kinds of supplementary feeding have been advocated to boost goat production (Adejumo and Ademosum, 1991; Palmer and Tatang, 1996) of which supplementary feeding with leguminous tree leaves viz. Calliandra and Leucaena are of high merit because of their high biomass (AFNETA, 1991; Duguma et al., 1994), high potential for soil fertility improvement (AFNETA, 1991; Hussain et al., 1991; Duguma et al., 1994) and high potential as forage (NAS, 1979; Mecha and Adegbola, 1980; Brewbaker, 1986; Topps, 1992). The fodder trees are high in protein compared to grasses (Rittner and Reed, 1992), remain green longer into the dry season and have a nutritive value that varies little from one season to another in Africa. In deed legume tree, leaves maintain higher protein and mineral contents during their growth, whereas these nutrients decline with progress to maturity in grasses. Studies have revealed that leguminous trees with good fodder value like Leucaena and Calliandra have a vast potential for growth in sub-Saharan Africa including Cameroon (Pamo et al., 2002). Sound information on the usefulness of feeding multipurpose leguminous tree (MPLT) leaves on production of WADG is lacking particularly in Cameroon and Central Africa sub-region. The present study was, therefore, undertaken to evaluate the effects of supplementary feeding of Calliandra calothyrsus and Leucaena leucocephala leaves on growth and production of West African dwarf goat.
2. Material and methods The study was conducted at Dschang University animal farm on 24 West African dwarf goats each in dry (November 2001 to April 2002) and in rainy (March
to September 2003) seasons. West African dwarf goat is an animal with disproportionately short leg and are common in and near the tropical forest belt in West and Central Africa, but its distribution does not extend to East Africa (Steele, 1996). These goats are about 50 cm in height and 20–30 kg in weight, tending to be larger as the savannah zone is approached. Growth rate and milk yield are very low, and they breed at all time of the year. They are used almost exclusively for meat production, and the skin is also usually eaten. Its most useful peculiarities are its adaptation to the humid tropical environment, and resistance to trypanosomiasis (Devendra and Burns, 1983). Animals of 2–3 years of age and 14–25 kg body weights were procured from the local market and were considered as fertile because of having kidded at least once. They were dewormed with Levamisol, injected i.m. at the rate of 1 ml/10 kg body weight at their introduction on the farm. They grazed on mixed pasture comprised of Brachiaria ruziziensis and Pennisetum purpureum between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. When goats came back from the pasture, they were kept in pens of five to seven each and were fed Trypsacum grass ad libitum. After about a month, two bucks were introduced in the herd for 2 months and breeding allowed. The males were removed thereafter. Goats were divided into two equal groups of 12 animals each. One group was supplemented while the other one did not receive any supplement and served as control. To avoid dominance behaviour and to ensure equal access to the supplement, goats with less than or more than 16 kg body weight were put in separate pens. On the basis of previous studies carried out in the region (Pamo et al., 2002, 2004), the mixture of C. calothyrsus and L. leucocephala leaves were harvested in the morning and mixed in equal quantities by weight, was left in the pens at the rate of 800 g per goat for eating at night. The following observations were made: (i) Intake of the supplement was calculated from its leftover every morning. (ii) Goats were weighed using electronic balance (HDK 60 ± 0.01 kg) on the day of the start of supplementation, just before and after kidding and every 2 weeks thereafter up to 3 months. (iii) The number of kids born, along with their sex, was recorded.
E.T. Pamo et al. / Small Ruminant Research 65 (2006) 31–37
33
females as well as males relatively subfertile (Lindsay et al., 1993) might have caused this phenomenon. The heavier goats (>16 kg) experienced more pregnancies (95.6% versus 84%) than the lighter (<16 kg) ones probably due to the later’s inability to either conceive or to sustain pregnancy (Ndlovu, 1992). Apparently, the goats with less weight were underweight for their age and were not as fertile as their normal weight counterparts. This could be the effect of malnutrition and/or any other factor(s) affecting their general health. In both seasons, abortions were recorded in 33% of the unsupplemented goats as compared to only 5% of the supplemented ones. Malnutrition has been reported as a versatile cause of abortion and still birth (Devendra and Burns, 1983; Mukundan et al., 1983; Ademosum et al., 1988). The supplementary feeding with the MPLT foliage appeared to have drastically lowered the abortion rate. While 24 supplemented goats yielded 24 kids, only 20 kids were obtained from the unsupplemented goats during both seasons. There was no mortality in the kids born in the two animal groups and in the two seasons. Supplementation with multipurpose leguminous tree browse particularly helped (a) in substantially reducing the incidence of abortion and (b) in the overall yield of kids per animal. Further, the rainy season proved to be much more beneficial in terms of high pregnancy rate than the dry season. This was equally observed by Amoah and Gelaye (1990) and by Kabuga and Akowuah (1991) and was related to the good quality of forage of the rainy season. The body weight of various groups of goats at different stages of reproduction is given in Table 2 and profile
(iv) Mortality of the kids in different groups was also recorded. Data were analysed statistically (Steel and Torrie, 1980) and the effects of supplementary feeding in dry and rainy seasons on the various aspects studied, as enumerated above, were evaluated.
3. Results and discussion On average the goats consumed between 700 and 800 g of the foliage supplement (MPLT) per head per day during the entire study period. These quantities represent almost the total amount of the supplement and the level of consumption is a clear indication of the level of acceptability of Calliandra and Leucaena by WADG. The stage of reproduction of WADG or the season had no significant effect on the quantity of supplement consumed. The detail of the reproductive performance of goats on various feeding schedules in different seasons is given in Table 1. Similar proportions of goats in the control and the supplemented groups became pregnant. This may be due to the fact that the conceptions took place before the supplementation started. Substantially higher proportion of goats (91.7%) became pregnant during rainy season as compared to that (87.5%) recorded during dry season. Poor nutritive value of the pasture during dry season (Gonzalez-Reyna et al., 1991; Delgadillo et al., 1998) summer stress (Mbayahaga et al., 1998; Dobson and Smith, 1998), which render the
Table 1 Reproductive performance of Cameroon West African dwarf goats in different seasons and on different feeding regimes Season Control Dry Rainy Supplemented Dry Rainy
Pregnant
Abortion
Number of kids
Males
Females
>16 kg (n = 6) <16 kg (n = 6)
5 6
2 2
4 4
3 2
1 2
>16 kg (n = 6) <16 kg (n = 6)
6 5
1 1
6 6
3 3
3 3
>16 kg (n = 5) <16 kg (n = 7)
5 5
0 1
5 5
3 3
2 2
>16 kg (n = 6) <16 kg (n = 6)
6 5
0 0
7 7
4 3
3 4
± ± ± ± 21.3 21.7 23.0 24.7 1.0a 1.5a 2.7a 3.1a ± ± ± ± 21.0 21.3 22.1 24.2 1.0a 1.5a 2.9a 3.5a Means within the same weight group and season in each column bearing different superscripts (a and b) are significantly different (P < 0.05).
± ± ± ± 20.7 20.8 21.7 23.6 1.1a 0.6a 2.5a 3.5a ± ± ± ± 20.4 20.9 21.6 23.3 1.4a 1.3a 2.4a 3.7a ± ± ± ± 20.3 20.5 21.5 22.9 1.2a 1.4a 2.2a 3.5a ± ± ± ± 19.7 20.2 21.2 22.7 1.3a 0.4a 1.9a 3.2a ± ± ± ± Control (<16 kg) (n = 6) Supplemented (<16 kg) (n = 6) Control (>16 kg) (n = 6) Supplemented (>16 kg) (n = 6) Rainy
14.1 14.5 19.4 19.6
21.4 21.7 24.7 25.5
± ± ± ±
1.9a 0.6a 1.6a 3.2a 1.5a 1.4a 2.2a 2.4a ± ± ± ±
19.6 19.8 22.4 23.6
± ± ± ± 16.6 17.4 20.6 21.8
12
1.6a 1.2a 4.6a 2.2a ± ± ± ± 15.6 17.8 19.8 21.3
10
1.0a 2.0a 4.6a 2.0a ± ± ± ± 15.8 17.9 19.3 21.5
8
0.9a 2.1a 4.3a 2.0a ± ± ± ± 16.5 18.6 19.8 22.1
6
0.9a 1.8a 4.2a 2.2a ± ± ± ± 16.7 18.4 19.9 22.9
4
0.7a 1.3a 4.3a 1.9a ± ± ± ± 2
16.3 19.3 20.7 23.3 0.2a 1.1b 4.5a 1.7a ± ± ± ± Control (<16 kg) (n = 6) Supplemented (<16 kg) (n = 7) Control (>16 kg) (n = 6) Supplemented (>16 kg) (n = 5) Dry
13.7 14.9 20.6 19.7
18.2 21.8 23.4 26.5
0.2a 1.0b 4.3a 1.7a ± ± ± ± 1.7a 1.1a 2.9a 1.9a ± ± ± ±
17.0 20.4 22.0 24.5
Weeks post partum At kidding Before kidding At beginning Size of animals Season
Table 2 Change of body weight in Cameroon West African dwarf goats in different seasons and different feeding regimes
1.0a 1.7a 2.0a 3.2a
E.T. Pamo et al. / Small Ruminant Research 65 (2006) 31–37 1.4a 1.5a 4.7a 1.4a
34
of mother’s body weight losses after parturition during the dry and rainy season are shown in Figs. 1 and 2. All the supplemented goats gained more weight than controls. Compared to respective controls, the overall weight gain was 48% versus 43% in the light-weight goats and 32.3 versus 20.5% in the heavy weight group. The lighter goats gained much more weight (46.5% versus 32.6%) during the dry season. These animals were still growing. During this period, the good nutritive value of the supplement lead to a more efficient conversion of the poor quality of grass forage of the pasture into important animal product. During the rainy season the difference (53 versus 50%) was not important. In this period, the nutritive value of the forage in the pasture and particularly their protein content was high. Animals fed solely pasture had a well balanced diet and the effect of the supplement, despite their high quality could not be evident. Similarly, the heavier goats gained much more weight than controls during the dry period (34.5% versus 13.6%) but not much different during rainy (30% versus 27%). This shows that MPTL supplementary feeding during pregnancy helped weight gain and was especially beneficial during the dry season probably because of poor quality and reduced quantity of the grasses available during the dry period. The light animals gained much more weight during pregnancy as compared to the heavy counterparts. It would imply that the supplementary feeding would be much more beneficial to the underweight goats than their heavy weight controls. This could be explained by the compensatory growth performance. There was no significant weight-loss at kidding in the two groups and in the two seasons. However, compared to rainy season, the weight-loss was much less during the dry season in light (6.4% versus 8.5%) and heavier goats (6.8% versus 8.3%). On average, the control and the supplemented goats lost similar weight (7.5% versus 7.4%) at kidding. During the three months post-kidding period, the supplemented goats continued to have 11–15% more body weight than their respective unsupplemented controls in the dry period. During the rainy season however, the post-kidding body weight differences between the supplemented and the no-supplemented goats were not important (Figs. 1 and 2). After parturition, metabolic requirements increase in relation to the lactation process and this can induce a decrease in the body weight if the nutritional level is not accurately
E.T. Pamo et al. / Small Ruminant Research 65 (2006) 31–37
35
Fig. 1. Change of body weight in Cameroon West African dwarf goats in the dry seasons with different feeding regimes.
balanced (Sahlu et al., 2004; Luo et al., 2004). The relatively high difference in body weight observed in the dry season between the supplemented group and their respective control is an indication of the type and equally of forage consumed by goats during this period. The body weight losses, which are generally drastic in lactating females and may influence the
resumption of oestrus and ovarian activity (Lindsay et al., 1993) were not acute, because the dry season was not so severe. During the rainy season, the quality of forage was rather excellent. As a result, supplementation did not produce any major difference between the supplemented group and the control. Our results are in agreement with that of Mbayahaga
Fig. 2. Change of body weight in Cameroon West African dwarf goats in the rainy seasons with different feeding regimes.
36
E.T. Pamo et al. / Small Ruminant Research 65 (2006) 31–37
et al. (1998) who observed after parturition a body weight-loss of 11.1 ± 6.8% on Burundian goats during the dry season. They are relatively higher as compared to the loss of 4.0 ± 1.7% observed in the dry season by Ndlovu (1992) after parturition on Zimbabwe goats. 4. Conclusion The beneficial effects of supplementary feeding with multipurpose leguminous tree browse on goat production in Cameroon were demonstrated in this study. It helps substantially reducing the incidence of abortion and increases the overall yield of kids per animal. Pregnancy rate was higher during the rainy season than in the dry season. During the post-kidding period supplemented goats continue to have 11–15% more body weight than their respective unsupplemented control during the dry season, while in the rainy season body weight among the two groups was similar. Acknowledgements The authors are grateful to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the University of Dschang and the Ministry of Higher Education of Cameroon for their financial support to the present work.
References Adejumo, J.O., Ademosum, A.A., 1991. Utilization of Leucaena as supplement for growing dwarf sheep and goats in the humid zone of West Africa. Small Rumin. Res. 5, 75–82. Ademosum, A.A., Boaman, H.G., Jansen, H.J., 1988. Nutritional studies with West African dwarf goat in humid tropics. In: Smith, O.B., Bosman, H.G. (Eds.), Goat Production in the Humid Tropics. Proc. Workshop, University of Ife, Ile-Ife, Nigeria, Wageningen, PUDOC, 20–24 July, pp. 21–28. AFNETA, 1991. Annual Technical Report, Alley Farming Network for Tropical Africa. International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Ibadan, Nigeria. Amoah, E.A., Gelaye, S., 1990. Reproductive performance of female goats in south pacific countries. Small Rumin. Res. 3, 257–267. Areghore, E.M., 1995. Effect of sex on growth rate, voluntary feed intake and nutrient digestibility of West African dwarf goats fed crop residue rations. Small Rumin. Res. 15, 217–221. Bosman, H.G., Versteegden, C.J.G.M., Odeyinka, S.M., Tolkam, B.J., 1995. Effect of amount offered on intake, digestibility and value of Gliricidia sepium and Leucaena leucocephala for West African dwarf goats. Small Rumin. Res. 15, 247–256.
Brewbaker, I.J., 1986. Nitrogen trees fixing, trees fodder and browse in Africa. In: Kang, B.T., Reynolds, I. (Eds.), Alley Farming in the Humid and Sub-Humid Tropics. IDRC, Ottawa, Canada. Devendra, C., Burns, M., 1983. Goat production in the tropics. In: Commonwealth Agricultural Bureaux, 176 pp. Delgadillo, J.A., Flores, J.A., Villearreal, D., Flores, M.J., Hoyos, G., Cheminaux, P., Malpaux, B., 1998. Length of season of postpartum anestrus in goats in subtropical Mexico: effect of season of parturition and duration of nursing. Theriogenology 49, 1209–1218. Dobson, H., Smith, R.F., 1998. Stress and subfertility. Reprod. Domest. Anim. 33, 107–111. Duguma, B., Tonye, J., Kanmegni, J., Manga, T., Enoch, T., 1994. Growth of ten multipurpose trees species on acid soils in Sangmelima, Cameroon. Agrofor. Syst. 27, 107–119. Gonzalez-Reyna, A., Valencia Mendez, J., Foote, W.C., Murphy, B.D., 1991. Hair sheep in Mexico: reproduction in the Pelibuey sheep. Anim. Breed. Abstr. 59, 509–524. Hussain, J., Jabar, A., Chugittai, E.A., Rasui, G., 1991. Effect of phosphorus fertilization on growth of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam) de Wit Leucaena. Res. Rep. 12, 86–88. Kabuga, J.J., Akowuah, F., 1991. Reproductive performance of Djallonke X Sahelian crossbred ewes in Ghana. Small Rumin. Res. 5, 245–254. Lindsay, D.R., Martin, G.B., William, I.H., 1993. Nutrition and reproduction. In: King, G.J. (Ed.), Reproduction in domesticated animals. World Anim. Sci, pp. 459–491. Luo, J., Goetsch, A.L., Nsahlai, I.V., Moore, J.E., Galyean, M.L., Johnson, Z.B., Sahlu, T., Ferrell, C.L., Owens, F.N., 2004. Prediction of voluntary feed intake by lactating Angora, growing and mature goats. Small Rumin. Res. 53, 357– 378. Makkar, H.P.S., 2000. Application of the in vitro method in the evaluation of feed resources, and enhancement of nutritional value of tannin-rich tree/browse leaves and agro-industrial by-products. In: Development and Field Evaluation of Animal Feed Supplementation Packages. Proceeding of the final review meeting of an IAEA Technical Co-operation Regional AFRA Project organized by the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food and Agriculture and held in Cairo, Egypt, 25–29 November, pp. 23–40. Mbayahaga, J., Mandiki, S.N.M., Bister, J.L., Paquay, R., 1998. Body weight, oestrus and ovarian activity in local Burundian ewes and goats after parturition in the dry season. Anim. Reprod. Sci. 51, 289–300. Mecha, I., Adegbola, T.A., 1980. Chemical composition of some southern Nigerian forages eaten by goats. In: Le Herou, H.N. (Ed.), Browse in Africa, the Current State of Knowledge. International Livestock Centre for Africa (ILCA), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, pp. 261–297. Mukundan, G., Bhat, P.N., Nandakumaran, B., Khan, B.V., 1983. Factor affecting pre-weaning body weights in Malabari goats and its Saanen half-breds. Indian J. Anim. Sci. 53 (8), 895– 897. NAS, 1979. Tropical legumes: resources for the future. Natl. Acad. Sci., Washington, DC, USA, 332 pp.
E.T. Pamo et al. / Small Ruminant Research 65 (2006) 31–37 Ndlovu, L.R., 1992. Reproductive performance of indigenous goats in traditionally managed flocks in north-east of Zimbabwe. In: Rey, B., Lebbie, S.H.B., Reynolds, L. (Eds.), Small Ruminant Research and Development in Africa. ILRAD, Nairobi, Kenya, pp. 177–183. Palmer, B., Tatang, M.I., 1996. Calliandra calothyrsus forage for the tropics—a current assessment. In: Evans, D.O. (Ed.), Proceeding International Workshop on the Genus Calliandra. Winrock Internat, Bogor, Indonesia, pp. 183–194. Pamo, T.E., Kennang, T., Kangmo, M.V., 2001. Etude compar´ee des performances pond´erales des Ch`evres Naines de Guin´ee suppl´ement´ees au Leuceuna leucocephala, au Gliricidia sepium ou au tourteau de coton dans l’uest-Cameroon. Tropicultura 19, 10–14. Pamo, T.E., Tendonkeng, F., Kadjio, J.T.T., Kwami, H.N., Taboum, R.K., Kana, J.R., Tegodjeu, A., 2000. Evaluation of the comparative growth and reproductive performance of West African dwarf goat in the Western Highland of Cameroon. In: Development and Field Evaluation of Animal Feed Supplementation Packages. Proceeding of the final review meeting of an IAEA Technical Co-operation Regional AFRA Project organized by the Joint FAO/IAEA Division of Nuclear Techniques in Food
37
and Agriculture and held in Cairo, Egypt, 25–29 November, pp. 87–96. Pamo, T.E., Tendonkeng, F., Kana, J.R., Loyem, P.K., Tchapga, E., Fotie, F.K., 2004. Effet de diff´erents niveaux de suppl´ementation avec Leucaena leucocephala sur la croissance pond´erale chez la ch`evre naine de Guin´ee. Revue d’Elev. Med. Vet. 57 (1–2), 107–112. Rittner, U., Reed, J.D., 1992. Phenolics and in vitro digestibility of protein and fibre in West African browse. J. Sci. Food Agric. 58, 21–28. Sahlu, T., Goetsch, A.L., Luo, J., Nsahlai, I.V., Moore, J.E., Galyean, M.L., Owens, F.N., Ferrell, C.L., Johnson, Z.B., 2004. Nutrient requirements of goats: developed equations, other considerations and future research to improve them. Small Rumin. Res. 53, 191–219. Steel, R.G., Torrie, J.H., 1980. Principles and procedures of statistics. McGraw Hill Book C, New York, 633 pp. Steele, M., 1996. Goats. In: Coste, R. (Ed.), The Tropical Agriculturalist. CTA, Macmillan, 152 pp. Topps, J.H., 1992. Potential, composition and use of legume shrubs and trees as fodders for livestock in tropics. J. Agric. Sci. Camb. 118, 1–18.