Effect of Taro (Colocasia esculenta) leaf + stem silage and mulberry leaf silage on digestibility and N retention of growing pigs fed a basal diet of rice bran
- Title
- Effect of Taro (Colocasia esculenta) leaf + stem silage and mulberry leaf silage on digestibility and N retention of growing pigs fed a basal diet of rice bran
- Livestock Research for Rural Development
- Creator
- Ty Chhay
- Khieu Borin
- TR Preston
- Subject
- Biological value
- Feed intake
- Leaves
- Proteins
- Date
- 2010
- Abstract
-
Three crossbred castrated male pigs, weighing on average 24 kg were allotted at random to 3 diets within a 3*3 Latin
square, to study the effect of Taro (Colocasia esculenta) silage (leaves + stems) and mulberry leaf silage, or a 50:50
combination of both foliages, on digestibility and N retention of growing pigs fed a basal diet of rice bran. The rice
bran was restricted at 1% of body weight (DM basis) while the silages were fed ad libitum.
Diets with 67% of mulberry leaf silage plus 33% rice bran and 74% Taro (leaf + stem) silage with 26% rice bran (DM
basis) supported relatively high rates of feed intake (30 and 39 g DM/kg LW/day). The mixed silage (50:50 as DM of
each forage) was consumed at 36 g/kg LW/day. Apparent digestibility coefficients for DM, crude protein, NDF and
ADF were higher for diets containing Taro silage compared with mulberry silage alone, with no difference between
50% Mulberry-50% Taro silage and 100% Taro silage. N retention when corrected for N intake did not differ among
diets.
It is concluded that the protein in Taro foliage (leaves + stems) is more digestible than the protein in mulberry leaves
but that the biological value of the protein is similar for both foliages. - volume
- 22
- issue
- 6
- Language
- en
- Item sets
- Foddering trees