Effect of a mixed silage of king grass (Cenchrus purpureus) and forage legumes (Leucaena leucocephala or Gliricidia sepium) on sheep intake, digestibility and nitrogen balance

Abstract

Ensiled king grass (Cenchrus purpureus (Schumach.) Morrone) is commonly used as feed in tropical ruminant production. However, ruminant performance can be limited by low nitrogen (N) content in tropical grass silage. A mixed feed of legume–king grass silage may be an option to improve ruminant production. We investigated the effects of feeding an ensiled mixture of king grass forage and foliage of a browse tree legume, either leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit) or gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Walp), on dry matter (DM) intake, DM digestibility, organic matter (OM) digestibility and N balance of Pelibuey sheep. Twelve male lambs 9–11 months old were blocked by initial bodyweight (33 ± 3 kg, mean ± s.d.) into three groups of four lambs and randomly assigned to one of three feed treatments: king grass silage (KS); mixed king grass and leucaena silage (KLS); and mixed king grass and gliricidia silage (KGS). Results showed that DM and OM were similar among silages. The N content was higher (P < 0.001) in KLS and KGS than in KS. DM intake and DM digestibility were higher (P < 0.001) in KLS and KGS than in KS. OM digestibility was higher (P < 0.001) in KLS than in KS. Nitrogen intake, faecal N, urine volume, urinary N, digested N, N digestibility, N retention and retained N:N intake ratio from KLS and KGS treatments were higher (P < 0.05) than from KS. A lower (P < 0.01) urinary N:N intake ratio was detected from KGS and KLS than from KS. This study demonstrated that, compared with silage made from king grass alone, legume–king grass silage mixtures can improve intake and nutrient digestibility in Pelibuey lambs. Further, N retention can be enhanced when legume–king grass silages are used as feed compared with king grass silage alone.

A Multipurpose Leguminous Plant for the Mediterranean Countries: Leucaena leucocephala as an Alternative Protein Source: A Review

“…Singh et al [ 61 ] noted an increased activity of protozoa, bacteria, and rumen fungi by supplementing the diet of adult sheep with Leucaena. Santana et al [ 62 ] found better intake and nutrient digestibility in lambs when fed with silage mixture with Leucaena and better N retention when fed alone. In lambs, the replacement of mustard seeds with Leucaena seeds, as a protein source up to 50%, did not produce adverse effects on the ingestion of the dry matter, the use of nutrients, the nitrogen balance, and the growth performance [ 63 ].…”

Short rotation coppice of leguminous tree Leucaena spp. improves soil fertility while producing high biomass yields in Mediterranean environment

“…Ld: Leucaena diversifolia; Ll: Leucaena leucocephala (LlH, 'Honduras'; LlI, 'India'; LlK, 'K360'). Loaiza et al, 2017;Dalzell, 2019), soil erosion control and therefore reduced run-off and improved water quality (Shelton and Dalzell, 2007;Adhikary et al, 2017), and high quality fodder for ruminant livestock (Gusha et al, 2017;Leketa et al, 2019;Santana et al, 2019). All this can reactivate the rural economy while providing environmental benefits.…”

Whole-Genome Analysis of Termite-Derived Bacillus velezensis BV-10 and Its Application in King Grass Silage

“…King grass is commonly used as feed for tropical ruminants because of its high dry-matter content [40]; however, its high content of lignocellulose, which is difficult to degrade, hinders the improvement of its nutritive value; thus, the nutritive value of silage is improved by adding cellulase [41] and microbial additives [42] to promote cellulose degradation. In this study, a bacterial strain with cellulose-degradation abilities was screened from wood-eating termites, identified as B. velezensis, and named B. velezensis BV-10.…”