The effect of supplementing urea treated maize stover with Tithonia, Calliandra and Sesbania to growing goats

Abstract

A study was conducted to compare the effects of feeding Tithonia diversifolia (Tithonia) with Calliandra calothyrsus (Calliandra) and Sesbania sesban (Sesbania) tree legume forages as protein supplements to a basal diet of urea treated maize stover. Sixteen goats (German Alpine crosses) averaging one year and weighing 11.7±1.8 kg were used to measure the feed intake, digestibility and live weight gains for 7 weeks. The basal diet (urea treated maize stover) plus 100g of maize germ was offered alone (control) or supplemented with 30% on dry matter basis of Tithonia, Calliandra and Sesbania, respectively.