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The usage of locally available forages such as agricultural by-products and native trees is the crucial thing for goat farmers to obtain good quality feed and to reduce cost of feeding. A study was conducted to investigate the performance of crossbred goats fed urea treated rice straw supplemented with different levels of Klienhovia hospita foliage, in particular to determine the nutrient feeding value of experimental feed diets, evaluate the growth performance, feed intake and digestibility of the diets by goats. The feeding trial conducted was divided into two sections: digestibility and animal performance. The digestibility test was performed using total faecal collection method. The treatment diets were based on urea treated rice straw (RS) supplemented with commercial concentrate (C) and Klienhovia hospita (KH) herbage: T1 with 85% RS and 15% C, T2 with 85% RS and 5% KH and 10% C, T3 with 85% RS, 10% KH and 5% C, and T4 with 85% RS and 15% KH. The feeding trial used 12 6-mo old crossbred male goats divided into 4 groups with the diets offered ad libitum and had access to clean drinking water. The left over feed was removed and weighed daily to determine voluntary DM intake. The initial average body weight of goats used ranged between 20.14�1.03 kg and 20.29�0.18 kg. The animals were placed in individual metabolic crates on slatted floor of 0.8 m above ground for 100 consecutive d. The results showed that there was no significant difference observed on body weight of goats among the treatments. ADG of goats was significantly higher in goats on diets T3 and T4 than those on control diet. Significant higher feed intake was observed in goats fed diet containing KH foliage than those fed with diet T1. Results for ASH, CP and ADF digestibility among different treatments were not significantly different whereas NDF digestibility was significantly higher in T2 treatment in comparison with T1, T3 and T4. The dry matter digestibility values of T1 and T2 diets were significantly higher than that of diet T4. Thus the study indicated that feeding goats with urea treated rice straw supplemented with KH foliage gave a positive effect on growing goats replacing concentrate fed with rice straw basal diet. It is concluded that the inclusion of KH foliage in the diet of goats has improved their growth performance and feed intake.

Napier grass was first introduced to Malaysia in the 1920?s and there were many cultivars introduced in Malaysia since 1950?s. However, there is a need to have comparative evaluation of these Napier cultivars so that definite recommendations can be made in the choice and management of the respective cultivars. The experiment was conducted to evaluate the in vitro digestibility and gas production characteristic of four Napier (Pennisetum purpureum) cultivars, namely Common, Silver, Red and Dwarf Napier. Common, Silver and Red Napier are classified as tall cultivars while Dwarf Napier is a short cultivar. Gas production was determined at 2, 4, 6, 8, 12, 24, 32, 36, 48, 72 and 96 h of incubation period and its kinetics was described using the equation p = a + b (1 ? e?ct). Dwarf Napier had the highest (P < 0.05) nutritive quality (16% CP; 75% IVDMD and 73% IVOMD) among the cultivars. Overall, tall cultivars were higher (P < 0.05) in NDF, ADF, and ADL content than Dwarf Napier cultivar. The potential gas production (A+B) at 96 h incubation period was higher (P < 0.05) in Dwarf Napier cultivar (65 mL/200 mg DM) compared to other tall cultivars (< 57 mL/200 mg DM). There were no significance differences (P > 0.05) in the rate of gas production (C) of Napier cultivars which ranged from 0.024 to 0.035 h-1. The metabolisable energy (ME) was significantly higher in Dwarf and Red Napier cultivars (8.7 MJ/kg DM) compared to Silver and Common Napier cultivars. The cumulative gas production within 32 h was highest (P< 0.05) in Red and Dwarf Napier cultivars. The total VFA concentration, acetic and butyric acid content of Napier cultivars (P>0.05) ranged from 52 to 73 mM, 88 to 70%, 6.2 to 6.8%, respectively.. Dwarf Napier cultivar had superior nutritional quality. Dwarf and Red Napier cultivars could be classified as high quality grasses due to their high digestibility, gas production and degradation rates compared to the other cultivars. The low quality of Common and Silver Napier cultivars is mainly reflected by the extensive lignification of their cell wall structure.

Most tropical roughage feeds are generally deficient in nitrogen, energy or some minerals and vitamins. A study was conducted to evaluate the effect of adding Gliricidia (Gliricidia sepium) leaves and molasses to Napier grass (Pennisetum purpureum) silage. Silage were prepared from Napier grass and mixed with Gliricidia and molasses. There were four treatments involved which were NG, containing Napier grass only which was the experiment control, GS containing Napier grass mixed with 5% Gliricidia leaves, ML containing the Napier grass mixed with 5% molasses, and MG containing Napier grass mixed with 5% molasses and 5% Gliricidia leaves. The treatments were analyzed for aerobic stability, dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), acid detergent lignin (ADL), and digestibility. There were no significant differences in aerobic stability of silage between treatments, and the treatments with Gliricidia were higher in crude protein (p