| dc.description.abstract | Two experiments designated A and B were conducted to evaluate the effect of supplementing
napier grass with lucerne on dry matter intake (DMI) and weight gain
(ADG) of Friesian and Sahiwal heifers. In experiment A which lasted 92 days, 24
heifers from each of Sahiwal and Friesian breeds were blocked by breed and randomly
allocated to the following treatments: young napier + a kg lucerne (T1);
young napier + 1.5 kg lucerne (T2); old napier + a kg lucerne (T3); old napier + 1.5
kg lucerne (T4); old napier + 2.5 kg lucerne (T5); old napier + 3.5 kg lucerne (T6)
heifer t.day". Supplementation significantly (p < 0.05) increased DMI from 4.3 to
6.7 kq.day ' in Sahiwals and 5.2 to 7.8 kq.day ' in Friesians (p < 0.05). Similarly,
supplementation positively influenced ADG which significantly (p < 0.05) improved
from 0.29 to 0.64 kq.day ' for Sahiwals and 0.30 to 0.65 kq.day:' for Friesians. In
Experiment B, diets from experiment A were incubated in the rumen for 0,3,6, 12,
24, 48, 96 and 336 h using four steers to estimate degradation. The rumen degradation
of lucerne-containing diets were significantly (p < 0.05) higher than those
with napier grass alone. It was concluded from the study that lucerne has a great
potential to improve animal performance in smallholder dairy farms. | en |
