Performance of West African Dwarf goats fed graded levels of sun-cured water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes Mart. Solms-Laubach) replacing Guinea grass

摘要

Theobjectiveofthisstudywastoevaluatetheperformanceofgoatsfedwaterhyacinth(WH)baseddiets.Thechemicalcompositionofsun-curedWH,Guineagrass(GG)andconcentratewasdetermined.Quantitativeanalysisoftannins,saponinsandphenolspresentinWHandGGwerealsodetermined.Thirty(30)femaleWADgoatsbetweentheagesof6and7monthsweighing8.40-9.60kgwereusedforafeedingtrial..Sixanimalswereallottedtoeachof5treatmentsinacompletelyrandomizeddesign.Parametersmeasuredincludedfeedintakeandweightgain.WHandGGcontainedtannins,saponinsandphenols,buttheconcentrationswerebelowtoxiclevels.ThefeedintakeandweightgainhadanegativecurvilinearrelationshipwithincreasinglevelofWHinthediets.ItisconcludedthatindietsbasedonGuineagrassthemaximumlevelofsun-curedwaterhyacinthindietsforgrowinggoatsis30%.