• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.1245-1248
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• 2000

In order to ascertain the influence of supplemental iodine on nutrient utilisation by goats fed a leucaena leucocephala leaf meal containing diet, 8 adult male goats (2 years; $22.3{\pm}1.73kg$) were randomly allocated into two groups, viz. control and experimental. Both the groups were fed a diet comprising of wheat bran, leucaena leaf meal and wheat straw ad lib. In addition, the experimental animals were given extra iodine at 0.04 mg/head/day (as KI soln.). A metabolism trial of 6 days duration conducted after 13 weeks of experimental feeding revealed that the daily DM intake $(g/W^{0.75})$ increased significantly due to iodine supplementation. Similar was the case with the intakes of DCP and ME. The digestibility of CP and EE showed significant improvement in the experimental group while that of DM, OM and total carbohydrates did not vary significantly between the two groups. The animals of control group were in negative nitrogen balance, which improved significantly and become positive in the experimental group. Moreover, the control animals lose weight apparently in contrast to the experimental animals, who maintained their weights. While iodine supplementation tended to enhance phosphorus retention that of calcium exhibited significant improvement. Conclusively, provision of extra iodine to Leucaena containing diet may prove beneficial in augmenting the nutrient utilization of this protein rich tropical forage.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.434-440
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• 1998

Seven hybrid lines of Leucaena leucocephala $\times$ L. diversifolia and two control lines of L. leucocephala were compared for their adaptation to acid-soils and tolerance to damage by the psyllid, Heteropsyla cubana, at four locations over two years in Peninsular Malaysia. Primary data on leaf composition and in vitro digestibility (nutrition variables) and secondary data on plant height, stem girth and psyllid damage (agronomy variables) were the measures of performance. Cluster solutions of the nine lines were different within locations, between locations and between years for nutrition and agronomy variables. Controls and hybrids did not cluster separately. Principal component scores of the nine lines gave rank orders which were different by location and by year. No performance trend could be detected between hybrids and controls. The conclusion is that nutritional and agronomic characteristics in Leucaena are independent, soil composition and weather did not consistently affect performance, and evidence is inconclusive as to the benefits of interspecific crossing with L. diversifolia.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.785-790
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• 2001

Twelve indigenous male goats, comprising of six intact and six castrated (2.5-3 years; $24.4{\pm}0.62kg$) were assigned evenly into two dietary treatments, viz. $I_0$ and $I_{100}$ and were used to study the effect of supplementation of iodine on the nutrient utilization when their diet contained Leucaena leaf meal. They were offered a conventional concentrate mixture along with Leucaena leucocephala leaf meal, the latter to meet 50% of their crude protein (CP) requirements, and supplemented with either no iodine ($I_0$) or 0.1 mg of iodine ($I_{100}$)/day/animal as potassium iodide for a period of 105 days. Wheat straw given ad libitum was the sole source of roughage. A metabolism trial of 8 days duration was conducted after 90 days of experimental feeding. It was observed that the overall dry matter (DM) intake during experimental period was higher (p<0.05) in $I_{100}$ group as compared to $I_0$ group (508.6 vs. $443.7g\;d^{-1}$). The intake of CP, digestible crude protein (DCP) and metabolisable energy (ME), although non-significant, tended to be higher in the iodine supplemented group, $I_{100}$. Digestibility of dry matter, organic matter (OM), CP, ether extract and crude fiber (CF) did not differ (p>0.05) between the treatments. However, nitrogen retention was higher (p<0.01) in $I_{100}$ than $I_0$ with the values being 2.63 and $1.70g\;d^{-1}$, respectively. No difference (p>0.05) was evident in the retention of calcium and phosphorus between the two groups. The castrated animal exhibited lower DM intake concurrent with higher digestibility of DM and crude fibre (p<0.05), and organic matter and total carbohydrates (p<0.01) when compared to intact ones. It was concluded that supplementation of iodine to leucaena based ration may help in improving the DM intake and nitrogen utilization by goats.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.1732-1737
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• 2002

This study was conducted to examine the effect of Leucaena leucocephala-Morus alba-Azadirachta indica (2:1:1) based leaf meal mixture as nitrogen source to partially replace (50%) soybean meal in conventional supplements on the performance of goats. Twelve non-descript female goats were divided into two equal groups in a completely randomized design to receive either the leaf meal mixture based supplement (LMAM) or soybean meal incorporated concentrate (SBM) and wheat straw for ad libitum intake for a two month period. The goats given LMAM and SBM concentrate had similar dry matter intake ($50.2{\pm}1.67g/kg\;W^{0.75}$) and nutrient digestibility. Nitrogen intake and its faecal and urinary excretion were similar irrespective of diets. The balance of nitrogen was positive and comparable ($1.63{\pm}0.08g/d$) in both dietary treatments. The plane of nutrition on both diets was comparable and the digestible crude protein and total digestible nutrients values of the composite diets offered did not differ significantly between the dietary supplements. The serum concentration of enzymes alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase were statistically similar in both the groups, while haemoglobin and serum urea levels were significantly (p<0.05) higher in LMAM and SBM treatments, respectively. It was concluded that the leaf meal mixture of Leucaena leucocephala-Morus alba-Azadirachta indica could be used as a vegetable protein supplement to wheat straw based diet of goats.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.9
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• pp.1309-1315
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• 2000

Sixteen Large $White{\times}Landrace$ pigs 12 weeks of age, with an average body weight of $22.9{\pm}2.12kg$ were fed four experimental diets; a commercial grain-based grower diet (control); or a diet containing 20% of either sun-dried leucaena leaf meal (LLM), water soaked LLM or $FeSO_4-treated$ LLM, replacing the basal diet. There was a significant (p<0.05) decrease in live weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion efficiency (FCE) in pigs fed the diet containing sun-dried LLM. Growth rate, feed intake and FCE were not affected by the addition of water-soaked and FeSO4-treated LLM to the basal diet. Triiodothyronine $(T_3)$ and thyroxine $(T_4)$ levels in the blood plasma were not affected by the dietary treatments. Addition of $FeSO_4-treated$ LLM to the basal diet significantly (p<0.05) reduced the back fat thickness of the pigs.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.28 no.8
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• pp.1155-1162
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• 2015

This study aimed to evaluate the nutrient digestibility of growing rabbits fed diets with different levels of either Leucaena leucocephala (LLM) or Moringa oleifera (MOLM) leaf meals and also to compare total collection and $TiO_2$ marker methods for estimating digestibility. A total of 30 California growing rabbits ($1.81{\pm}0.19kg$ live weight on average) were randomly distributed into five experimental groups of six rabbits each and were housed in individual cages. The groups were control, 30% LLM, 40% LLM, 30% MOLM, and 40% MOLM. All groups received pelleted diets for two weeks; diets also contained 4 g/kg titanium dioxide as dietary marker. Daily feed intake was recorded during the whole experimental period and total feces were collected daily and weighed individually during four days. The results showed that there were no difference (p>0.05) in feed, dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), digestible energy, and crude fiber (CF) intake between the control group and the other experimental groups. The apparent digestibility values of DM, OM, CP, CF, acid detergent fiber, and gross energy were the highest for control group (p = 0.001), meanwhile MOLM diets had generally higher nutrient digestibility coefficients than LLM diets. Increasing the inclusion level of leaf meal in the diet from 30% to 40% improved the digestibility of CF from 45.02% to 51.69% for LLM and from 48.11% to 55.89% for MOLM. Similar results for apparent nutrient digestibility coefficients were obtained when either total collection or indigestible marker method was used. In conclusion, the digestibility of MOLM containing diets were better than LLM diets, furthermore $TiO_2$ as an external marker could be used as a simple, practical and reliable method to estimate nutrients digestibility in rabbit diets.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.14 no.6
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• pp.791-796
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• 2001

Twelve adult male goats, comprising of six castrated and six intacts, (2.5-3 years; $24.4{\pm}0.62kg$) were randomly but evenly divided into two groups ($I_0$ and $I_{100}$) and fed conventional concentrate mixture along with Leucaena leucocephala leaf meal (100 g/head approx.), the latter to supply 50 per cent of the crude protein (CP) requirements. The $I_{100}$ group was provided with supplemental iodine as potassium iodide solution at 0.1 mg/day/animal. Wheat straw was provided ad libitum as sole source of roughage during the experimental period of 105 d. Blood samples were collected at the begining (0 d) and thereafter at 30, 60 and 90 d of experimental feeding. The study revealed that the serum glucose level was significantly higher (p<0.01) in $I_{100}$ group as compared to $I_0$. Haemoglobin, packed cell volume and serum concentrations of total protein, albumin, globulin, calcium, inorganic phosphorus and alkaline phosphatase did not show significant differences as a result of iodine supplementation. Though the serum levels of triiodothyronine ($T_3$) were comparable between the two groups, that of thyroxine ($T_4$) increased significantly (p<0.001) in the $I_{100}$ group. The $T_3:T_4$ ratio was also similar between both the groups. The study indicated that the adverse effect of Leucaena feeding on thyroid gland could possibly be alleviated by provision of extra iodine. However, this needs further confirmation using long duration studies.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.13 no.6
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• pp.830-836
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• 2000

A participation scheme involving smallholder dairy farmers in improving dairy productivity through the use of local feeds, on-farm established feeds and crop residues was carried out in the Northeast, Thailand. At six milk collection centers, 63 farmers with 340 lactating cows participated in this research and demonstration of feed supplements. Farmers and cows were allotted to receive respective feed supplements: high-quality feed block (HQFB), high-quality feed pellet (HQFP), dried cassava leaf/cassava hay, dried leucaena leaf and cottonseed meal: 5% urea treated rice straw was fed as a source of roughage throughout the feeding period of the dry season. Trainings and workshops were organized by the researchers at the University, research station, demonstration sites and on-farms. Regular visits to the fartns by researchers and extension officers were made while discussions and demonstrations were performed in addition. Participating farmers also visited other farmers during the demonstration which offered a real practical perspective and farmer-to-farmer interaction. As a result of this participation and demonstration scheme, the farmers could learn more effectively and accepted the technology more readily, especially the practicality of the feed preparation, feed establishment, feeding method and feed reserve. Strategic supplementation of these feed supplements resulted in improving milk yield, milk quality, overall condition of the cows and higher income return through increased productivity and lower level use of concentrate to milk yield from 1:2 to 1:3 or lower. Based on this research and demonstration /participation scheme, all feed supplements enhanced productivity, however the establishment of cassava hay on fartns deserved more attention and warrants a wider developmental expansion among dairy farmers since it contained high rumen by-pass protein (tannin-protein complex) and could be easily produced and be sustainable on farms.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.169-176
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• 1991

Four fibrous feedstuffs from alfalfa meal (AFM), cassava leaf meal (CLM), rubber seed meal (RSM) and leucaena meal (LM) were included in semi-purified diets for growing pig (45 kg body wt.) at 20%, to investigate the effects of these fiber sources and fractions on amino acid digestibility. Cellulose (C), a purified fiber source was included in another diet at 5% level for comparison. The barrows fitted with ileal T-cannula were used in the digestion trials with latin square design. The digestibilities of amino acids were measured at both terminal ileum and fecal level. NDF and hemicellulose content were the highest in AFM-diet whereas LM-diet had the highest ADF and lignin content. RSM-diet contained the highest crude fiber and cellulose content. The digestibilities of amino acids at ileal level were found the highest with CLM-diet, while LM-diet was the least. At fecal level, control diet and CLM-diet were the highest in amino acid digestibility while AFM-diet was the least. The digestibility of amino acids was higher at ileal than fecal level. The digestibility of arginine was not affected with fiber fractions but was found to be the most disestible across all diets. The most depressed amino acid was methionine at both levels; praline and glycine, in the dispensable amino acid group, were depressed at ileal and fecal level, respectively. Lignin did not depress amino acid digestibility in general but specifically depressed methionine, histidine, isoleucine and threonine digestibility. Cellulose content did not affect amino acid digestibility but undesirable factors might be responsible.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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• v.18 no.1
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• pp.42-47
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• 2005

The possibility of using Moringa oleifera as a ruminant protein supplement was investigated by comparison between nutritive and anti-nutritive value of its different morphological parts with that of conventionally used Leucaena leucocephala leaf meal (LL). Parameters determined were chemical composition, rumen degradable protein (RDP), acid detergent insoluble protein (ADIP), pepsin soluble protein (PESP), non-protein nitrogen (NPN) total soluble protein (TSP) and protein potentially digested in the intestine (PDI). Total phenols (TP) and total extractable tannins (TET) were also evaluated as anti-nutritive factors. In vitro gas production characteristics were measured and organic matter digestibility (OMD) was estimated basing on 24 h-gas production. Crude protein content ranged from 265-308 g/kg DM in M. oleifera leaves (MOL) and seed cake (MOC) respectively. Leucaena leucocephala and Moringa oleifera soft twigs and leaves (MOLSTL) had CP content of 236 and 195 g/kg DM while Moringa oleifera soft twigs alone (MOST) and Moringa oleifera bucks (MOB) had 160, 114 and 69.3 g/kg DM respectively. RDP was highest in (MOC) (181 g/kg DM) followed by (MOL) (177 g/kg DM) and was lowest in MOB (40 g/kg DM). The proportion of the protein that was not available to the animal (ADIP) was (p<0.05) higher in MOL and MOC (72 and 73 g/kg DM) respectively and lowest in LL (29 g/kg DM). The PDI was high in LL (74 g/kg DM) followed by MOC (55 g/kg DM) then MOL (16 g/kg DM). PESP was highest (p<0.05) in MOC followed by MOL then LL (273, 200 and 163 g/kg DM respectively). MOC exhibited highest NPN content (116 g/kg DM) and was lowest in MOB (18 g/kg DM) (p<0.05). Highly (p<0.05) TSP was observed in MOC and MOL (308 and 265 g/kg DM respectively) followed by LL (236 g/kg DM). MOL had negligible TET (20 g/kg DM) when compared with about 70 g/kg DM in LL. Highly (p<0.05) b and a+b values were observed for MOLSTL (602 and 691 g/kg DM respectively) followed by MOL (490 and 538 g/kg DM). Highest c value was observed in MOSTL followed by MOC and MOL (0.064, 0.056 and 0.053 rate/hour) respectively. OMD was highest (p<0.05) for MOSTL followed by MOC and then MOL (579, 579 and 562 g/kg DM respectively). LL exhibited lower (p<0.05) OMD (467 g/kg DM). It was concluded from this study that the high crude protein content in MOL and MOLST could be well utilized by ruminant animals and increase animal performance however, high proportion of unavailable protein to the lower gut of animals and high rumen degradable protein due to negligible tannin content render it a relatively poor protein supplement for ruminants. MOC can be a best alternative protein supplement to leaves and leaves and soft twigs for ruminants.