Effects of supplementation of different indigenous species of browses to Arsi-Bale yearling goats on feed intake, growth performance, and helminthes loads

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of browse tree leaves meals on growth performance and parasite load of naturally parasitized yearling goats. Thirty-six Arsi-Bale yearling bucks which were naturally parasitized with helminths were randomly allocated to one of the following feeding treatments; T1 = Chloris gayana grass hay ad lib + 100g concentrate, T2 = T1 + dried 100g of Acacia tortilis leaves, T3 = T1 + dried 100g of Acacia seyal leaves, T4 = T1 + dried 100g of Acacia senegal leaves, T5 = T1 + dried 100g of Millettia ferruginea leaves and T6 = T1 + dried 100g of Vernonia amygadalina leaves. Goats were fed on corresponding diets for 70 days. Fecal egg count and body weight changes were recorded every 14 days. Higher feed conversion efficiency was observed in goats supplemented with dried browse tree leaves of Acacia seyal (T3), Millettia ferruginea (T5), and Vernonia amygadalina (T6). All supplemented goats had significantly (p<0.05) lower fecal egg count (FEC) at day 70 and grew significantly (p<0.05) faster than the control group. Goats supplemented with dried browse tree leaves of Acacia seyal, Millettia ferruginea, and Vernonia amygadalina grew faster than goats supplemented with other dried browse tree leaves. A rapid and significant reduction of FEC was observed in goats supplemented with Millettia ferruginea starting from day 14 and the lowest (p<0.05) value was attained at day 70 after treatment. Similarly, goats supplemented with Vernonia amygadalina showed an accelerated reduction of FEC starting from day 28 and attained the lowest (p<0.05) value at day 70 after treatment. Goats supplemented with Millettia ferruginea (T5) and Vernonia amygadalina (T6) had the lowest (p<0.05) FEC at all times after supplementation and grew faster than the other groups. The rapid and accelerated reduction of FECs and fastest growth rate observed in goats supplemented with Millettia ferruginea and Vernonia amygadalina indicated that these browse tree leaves could be effective to control helminths parasite and improve the growth performance of parasitized goats.