Abstract
Feed intake and digestibility were evaluated in sheep fed low quality Taiwan grass supplemented with Tithonia diversifolia. Four wether hair sheep were housed in metabolic cages and fed with either Control concentrate 20%, Tithonia 20, 35 or 50% in a Latin Square design. Adaptation and, feces and urine collection periods were 14 and 7 days, respectively. Feed intake was increased (P < 0.01) from 58.5 in control to 86.1 g/kg0.75 in sheep fed Tithonia. NDF intake and digestibility were affected by Tithonia level. Nitrogen intake increased linearly (P < 0.01) with increase in feces and urine excretion. N retention was similar (P > 0.1) among sheep fed Tithonia, but different (P < 0.05) from control. Inclusion of Tithonia foliage at 20% of the DM diet of hair sheep improved their intake of low quality Taiwan grass and nitrogen retention. Higher levels of Tithonia in the diet, however, increase nitrogen loss in feces and urine.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alayón AJ (1996) Evaluación de métodos de siembra y del efecto de la inclusión de Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Steud en dietas de heno de Cynodon nlemfuensis en ovinos pelibuey. Tesis de Maestría. Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y Zootecnia-UADY. Mérida, Yucatán, México, p 129 (in Spanish)
AOAC (2000) Official methods of analysis, 17th edn. Association of Official Analytical Chemists, Washington, DC
Archibeque SL, Huntington GB, Burns JC (2001) Urea flux in beef steers: effects of forage species and nitrogen fertilization. J Anim Sci 79:1937–1943
Dabiri N, Thonney ML (2004) Source and level of supplemental protein for growing lambs. J Anim Sci 82:3237–3244
Del Curto T, Cochran RC, Harmon DL, Beharka AA, Jacque KA, Towne G, Vanzant ES (1990) Supplementation of dormant tallgrass-prairie forage: I. Influence of varying supplemental protein and (or) energy levels on forage utilization characteristics of beef steers in confinement. J Anim Sci 68:515–531
Gacheru E, Rao MR (2001) Managing Striga infestation on maize using organic and inorganic nutrient sources in western Kenya. Int J Pest Manage 47(3):233–239
Galloway DL, Goetsch AL, Forster LA Jr, Sun W, Johnson ZB (1991) Feed intake and digestion by Holstein steers fed warm or cool season grass hays with corn, dried molasses, or wheat middlings. J Dairy Sci 74:1038–1046
Heldt JS, Cochran RC, Mathis CP, Woods BC, Olson KC, Titgemeyer EC, Nagaraja TG, Vanzant ES, Johnson DE (1999) Effects of level and source of carbohydrate and level of degradable intake protein on intake and digestion of low-quality tallgrass-prairie hay by beef steers. J Anim Sci 77:2846–2854
Huntington G, Poore M, Hopkins B, Spears J (2001) Effect of ruminal protein degradability on growth and N metabolism in growing beef steers. J Anim Sci 79:533–541
Ibrahim M, Villanueva C, Mora J (2005) Traditional and improved silvopastoral systems and their importance in sustainability of livestock farms. In: Mosquera-Losada MR (ed) Silvopastoralism and sustainable land management. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, pp 13–18
Jama B, Palm CA, Buresh RJ, Niang A, Gachengo C, Nziguheba G, Amadalo B (2000) Tithonia diversifolia as a green manure for soil fertility improvement in western Kenya A review. Agrofor Syst 49:201–221
Kayuki KC, Wortmann CS (2001) Plant materials for soil fertility management in subhumid tropical areas. Agron J 93:929–935
Köster HH, Cochran RC, Titgemeyer EC, Vanzant ES, Abdelgadir I, St-Jean G (1996) Effect of increasing degradable intake protein on intake and digestion of low-quality, tallgrass-prarie forage by beef cows. J Anim Sci 74:2473–2481
Kozloski GV, Bonnecarrére Sanchez LM, Cadorin RL Jr, Reffatti MV, Perez Neto D, Lima LD (2006) Intake and digestion by lambs of dwarf elephant grass (Pennisetum purpureum Schum. cv. Mott) hay or hay supplemented with urea and different levels of cracked corn grain. Anim Feed Sci Technol 125:111–122
Lintzenich BA, Vanzant ES, Cochran RC, Beaty JL, Brandt RT Jr, St Jean G (1995) Influence of processing supplemental alfalfa on intake and digestion of Dormant Bluestem-range forage by steer. J Anim Sci 73:1187–1195
Mahecha L, Rosales M (2005) Valor nutricional del follaje de botón de oro Tithonia diversifolia (Hemsl.) Gray, en la producción animal en el trópico. In: Livestock Research for Rural Development, vol 17, issue 100 (in Spanish). http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd17/9/mahe17100.htm. Retrieved 23 Feb 2006
Mahecha L, Escobar JP, Suárez JF, Restrepo LF (2007) Tithonia diversifolia (hemsl.) Gray (botón de oro) como suplemento forrajero de vacas F1 (Holstein por Cebú). In: Livestock Research for Rural Development, vol 19, issue 16 (in Spanish). http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd19/2/mahe19016.htm. Retrieved 23 Apr 23 2007
Mathis CP, Cochran RC, Heldt JS, Woods BC, Abdelgadir IEO, Olson KC, Titgemeyer EC, Vanzant ES (2000) Effects of supplemental degradable intake protein on utilization of medium- to low-quality forages. J Anim Sci 78:224–232
Mulligan FJ, Caffrey PJ, Rath M, Kenny MJ, O’Mara FP (2001) The effect of dietary protein content and hay intake level on the true and apparent digestibility of hay. Livest Prod Sci 68:41–52
Murgueito E (2005) Silvopastoral systems in the neotropics. In: Mosquera-Losada MR (ed) Silvopastoralism and sustainable land management. CABI Publishing, Wallingford, pp 24–29
NRC (1985) Nutrient requirements of sheep, 6th edn. National Academy Press, Washington, DC
Osuji PO, Nsahlai IV, Khalili H (1993) Feed evaluation. ILCA Manual 5. ILCA (International Livestock Centre for Africa), Addis Ababa
Pathoummalangsy, Preston (2008) Effects of supplementation with rumen fermentable carbohydrate and sources of ‘bypass’ protein on feed intake, digestibility and N retention in growing goats fed a basal diet of foliage of Tithonia diversifolia. In: Livestock Research for Rural Development, vol 20 (supplement). http://www.lrrd.org/lrrd20/supplement/kham20076.htm. Retrieved 5 Jan 2010
Patra AK, Sharma K, Dutta Narayan, Pattanaik AK (2003) Response of gravid does to partial replacement of dietary protein by a leaf meal mixture of Leucaena leucocephala, Morus alba and Azadirachta indica. Anim Feed Sci Technol 109:171–182
Rosales M (1996) In vitro assessment of the nutritive value of mixtures of leaves from tropical fodder trees. PhD thesis. Deparment of plant Sciences. Oxford, University. Oxford, UK, p 214
Salisbury MW, Krehbiel CR, Ross TT, Schultz CL, Melton LL (2004) Effects of supplemental protein type on intake, nitrogen balance, and site, and extent of digestion in whiteface wethers consuming low-quality grass hay. J Anim Sci 82:3567–3576
SAS Institute (2000) Software SAS version 8, Nashville Enabled. SAS Institute Inc, Cary, North Carolina, USA
Shayo CM, Udén P (1999) Nutritional uniformity of neutral detergent solubles in some tropical browse leaf and pod diets. Anim Feed Sci Technol 82:63–73
Shigechi H, Koh J, Fujita Y, Matsumoto T, Bito Y, Ueda M, Satoh E, Fukuda H, Kondo A (2004) Direct production of ethanol from raw corn starch via fermentation by use of a novel surface-engineered yeast strain codisplaying glucoamylase and alpha-amylase. Appl Environ Microbiol 70:5037–5040
Swanson KC, Caton JS, Redmer DA, Burke VI, Reynolds LP (2000) Influence of undegraded intake protein on intake, digestion, serum hormones and metabolites, and nitrogen balance in sheep. Small Rumin Res 35:225–233
Swanson KC, Freetly C, Ferrell CL (2004) Nitrogen balance in lambs fed low-quality brome hay and infused with differing proportions of casein in the rumen and abomasums. J Anim Sci 82:502–507
Tempelman RJ (2004) Experimental design and statistical methods for classical and bioequivalence hypothesis testing with an application to dairy nutrition studies. J Anim Sci 82:E162–E172
Van Soest PJ (1994) Nutritional Ecology of the Ruminant, second ed. Cornell University Press, New York, NY, USA 476pp
Van Soest PJ, Robertson JB, Lewis BA (1991) Methods for dietary fibre, neutral detergent fibre, and nonstarch polysaccharides in relation to animal nutrition. J Dairy Sci 74:3583–3597
Wambui CC, Abdulrazak SA, Noordin Q (2006) The effect of supplementing urea treated maize stover with Tithonia, Calliandra and Sesbania to growing goats. In: Livestock Research for Rural Development, vol 18, issue 64. http://www.cipav.org.co/lrrd/lrrd18/5/abdu18064.htm. Retrieved 1 Oct 2006
Weder CE, Del Curto T, Svejcar T, Jaeger JR, Bailey RK (1999) Influence of Supplemental Alfalfa Quality on the Intake, Use, and Subsequent Performance of Beef Cattle Consuming Low-Quality Roughages. J Anim Sci 77:1266–1276
Whitelaw FG, Milne JS, Orskov ER, Stansfield R, Franklin MF (1990) Urea metabolism in sheep given conventional feeds or nourished by intragastric infusion. Experimental Physiol 75:239–254
Woodward A, Reed JD (1997) Nitrogen metabolism of sheep and goats consuming Acacia brevispica and Sesbania sesban. J Anim Sci 75:1130–1139
Acknowledgments
We acknowledge Mrs. Susan Chanda and Dr. Esau Ruiz for helpful proof reading of this work.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ramírez-Rivera, U., Sanginés-García, J.R., Escobedo-Mex, J.G. et al. Effect of diet inclusion of Tithonia diversifolia on feed intake, digestibility and nitrogen balance in tropical sheep. Agroforest Syst 80, 295–302 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-010-9320-0
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10457-010-9320-0