Evaluation of Moringa Foliage (Moringa oleifera) as Goat Feed

Thirty five growing male goats (6.98±0.86 kg BW) were divided into five equal groups with seven animals in each group. The five dietary treatments were consisted of varying proportions of Moringa foliage (Moringa oleifera) and napier grass (Pennisetum purpurium); T1 (100% Moringa foliage); T2 (75% Moringa foliage+25% napier grass); T3 (50% Moringa foliage+50% napier grass); T4 (25% Moringa foliage+75% napier grass) and T5 (100% napier grass) (control). The experiment was arranged in complete randomized design to evaluate the feed intake, nutrient digestibility and live weight gains of Bengal goats fed napier grass mixed with different levels of Moringa foliage. The dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP) and ash contents of the diets increased as the proportion of Moringa foliage increased and the reverse was seen for organic matter (OM) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) content. The DM intake was significantly (P<0.01) higher in sole Moringa diet than napier-Moringa foliage mixture and sole napier diet. Crude protein intake increased with higher inclusion level of Moringa foliage in the diet. The DM and OM digestibility of goats was significantly (P<0.01) higher in sole Moringa foliage diet than in other experimental diets. The CP digestibility was increased linearly with increasing level of Moringa foliage in the diet. Nitrogen retention was significantly (P<0.01) higher in sole Moringa and Moringa-napier mixture diets than in the sole napier grass diet. The mean daily average live weight gain followed a similar trend as the nitrogen retention which revealed that the nitrogen retention of all treatment groups was above the maintenance level of the animals. It is concluded that Moringa foliage can be replaced in goat diet up to 75% in napier grass based diet.