REPLACEMENT OF CONCENTRATES BY Azolla pinnata ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF TERAI GOAT

Author:
Avishek Poudel, Shanker R Barsila, Luma Nidhi Pandey, Purushotam Joshi, Kamana Adhikari

Doi: 10.26480/rfna.02.2024.69.75

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License CC BY 4.0, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

The primary goal of an experiment conducted on Terai goats from June 4 to August 8, 2022, at Madi Organic Farm and Research Center Pvt. Ltd., Khairahini, Madi-4 Chitwan, Nepal, was to develop a low-cost concentrate substitute and enhance the growth performance of Terai goat kids. Sixteen goat kids, three to five months old, with an average weight of 11.2 kg, were chosen for the experiment. In order to maintain a similar average weight within the groups, they were allocated to one of the four treatments. The treatment specifics were: T1 = Roughages (4% BW on DM basis) available grass i.e. (80% Napier and remaining other) + Concentrate (1% BW on DM basis), T2 = Roughages (4% BW on DM basis) available grass i.e. (80% Napier and remaining other) + Concentrate (0.85% BW on DM basis) + Azolla (0.15% BW on DM basis), T3 = Roughages (4% BW on DM basis) available grass i.e. (80% Napier and remaining other) + Concentrate (0.70% BW on DM basis) + Azolla (0.30% BW on DM basis) and T4 = Roughages (4% BW on DM basis) available grass i.e. (80% Napier and remaining other) + Concentrate (0.55% BW on DM basis) + Azolla (0.45% BW on DM basis). Each goat kid was tagged for identification, fed according to its body weight and weighed every two weeks interval during the research time. The average daily gain (49.67 g/day) for T2 was substantially larger (p<0.05) than the average daily gains (41.92 g/day) for T1, T3 (40.5 g/day), and T4 (32.9 g/day). The FCR also showed this pattern, with T2 (8.03) yielding the greatest outcomes and T1 (9.55), T3 (9.64), and T4 (11.25) following closely behind. At Rs. 870, Group T2 had the biggest net benefit per animal. Azolla replaced 15% of the concentrate in the diet of goat kids with a considerable improvement in feed palatability, growth performance, and profitability without causing any negative effects; however, negative impacts were noted when the replacement amount exceeded 15%. The findings of this study therefore suggested that Azolla be added to goat kids’ diets in place of 15% concentrate in order to improve growth and yield financial advantages.

Pages 69-75
Year 2024
Issue 2
Volume 5