Preference of Boer goats for Namibian native forage legumes and Lucerne (Medicago sativa)

The objective of this study was to determine the relative palatability of four native forage legumes (Otoptera burchellii, Crotalaria argyraea, Crotalaria podocarpa and Vigna lobatifolia) in comparison with each other and with Lucerne (Medicago sativa). Eight weaned Boer goats aged 6 months and weighing 25.2 ± 4.9 kg were grouped by sex, and then randomly allocated to individual pens. Goats were simultaneously offered 100 g of each of the four native legumes and 600 g of M. sativa (as-is basis) over a 10-day period. Grass hay (Cenchrus ciliaris), fresh water and mineralised salt licks were available at all times. Grass hay was given to allow diet mixing and possibly ameliorate any undesirable effects, such as bloat, due to feeding on legumes alone. The percentage of each species consumed of that offered was associated (P 95% of that offered. This study demonstrated that hay of all the four native forage legume hays were palatable to Boer goats, with the inferred ranking being: (Lucerne, V. lobatifolia) > O. burchellii > Crotalaria spp. Further studies are required to investigate the productivity of goats feeding on these native forage legumes, which have potential for use in marginal lands.

• Publication year

  2020

• Venue

  Animal Production Science

• Publication date

  2020-02-25

• Fields of study

  Agricultural and Food Sciences, Biology

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1071/an17387
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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