Pin Chanjula, Areewan Mesang and Sahutaya Pongprayoon

pp. 527 - 536

Abstract

To investigate the effects of inclusion of palm kernel cake (PKC) in the diets on intake, digestibility, rumen fermentation characteristics, nitrogen balance and microbial N supply, five goats (initial BW = 20±1 kg) were randomly assigned to a
5×5 Latin square design to receive five diets, T₁
 = concentrate with 15% PKC, T₂ = 25% PKC, T₃
 = 35% PKC, T₄
 = 45% PKC
and T₅
 = 55% PKC, of dietary dry matter, respectively. Plicatulum hay was offered ad libitum as the roughage. A metabolism
trial lasted for 21 days during which live weight changes and feed intakes were measured. Based on this experiment, there
were no significant differences (p>0.05) among treatment groups regarding dry matter (DM) intake and digestion coefficients
of DM, organic matter, crude protein, neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber, except in T₄
 and T₅
 (45 and 55% PKC)
which had lower (p<0.01) than other treatments. Rumen parameters: temperature, pH, NH₃
-N, blood urea nitrogen and blood
glucose, packed cell volume, volatile fatty acids, rumen microorganism populations and N retention were similar among
treatments (p>0.05), however the concentration of total volatile fatty acids and protozoal populations were slightly lower for
goats fed inclusion of 45-55% PKC as compared with other treatments. Based on this experiment, it could be concluded that
the optimal level of PKC in concentrate should be 15-35% for goats fed with plicatulum hay and that it may be an effective
means of exploiting the use of local feed resources for goat production. 

Keywords

• palm kernel cake
• rumen fermentation
• goat
• microbial populations