THE EFFECTS OF FEED ON THE INTAKE, DIGESTIBILITY AND GROWTH RATE OF WEST AFRICAN DWARF GOATS FED GLIRICIDIA sepium AND LEUCAENA LEUCOCOEPHALA

The study evaluated the effects of level of feed offer on dry matter intake (DMI) , digestibility, the parts of plants selected and on the growth rate of West African dwarf (WAD) goats without resulting in toxicity. Seven different levels of feed offer ranging from 40g/kg0.75/day to 130Wkg0.75/day in increments of 15g/kg0.75) were fed to two groups of goats. The first group was fed 100% Gliricidia while the while the second was fed 50% Gliricidia and 50% Leucaena diet (50/50). The level of feed offer had significant effect on the DIM and digestible DMI (DDMI) of the goat (P 0.05). The study indicate that goats performance was higher on a mixed browse diet than on Gliricidia alone. Goats performed best at 100g/kg0.75 offer level.