In Vitro Evaluation of Grass and Legume/Browse Species Grazed by West African Dwarf Goats in South-Western Nigeria

Four grass species (Panicum maximum, Imperata cylindrica, Axonopus fissifolius and Brachiaria decumbens) and three legume/browse species (Leucaena leucocephala, Centrosema pubescens, and Gliricidia sepium) were evaluated for proximate composition and in vitro gas production characteristics. The completely randomized design with four grass species and three legume/browse species, each in triplicates was employed. The dry matter of the grass species ranged between 79.38 and 89.95%, while that of legume/browse species ranged from 85.00 to 93.38%. The crude protein contents of the grasses ranged from 5.68 to 8.72% and the legumes from 16.02 to 28.86%. Other ranges of values were for crude fibre, 18.34 to 24.32% in the grasses and 12.16 to 61.41% in the legume/browse species. Gas production (23.00 – 54.00 ml/200 mg DM) at 24 h incubation, potential gas production (a + b) also (23.00 – 54.00 ml/200 mg DM), metabolizable energy (ME) (6.01 – 7.07 MJ/kg DM), organic matter digestibility (OMD) (44.53 – 78.91%) and short chain fatty acids (SCFA) (0.49 – 1.23 μmol) were observed. These values were higher in the legume/browse than in the grass species. In conclusion, the observed nutritive values of the forages understudied have shown that they could be beneficial for improved goat production in Nigeria.