THE USE OF PALM KERNEL CAKE AS FEED SUPPLEMENT FOR GROWING GOATS

Abstract

Palm kemel cake was evaluated as supplement to basal diets of napier grass for goats. Twenty male goats with an average initial body weight of 14.34 i 2.19 kg were randomly allocated to four treatment groups. A IO -week feeding and a 7- day digestion trial were carried out. All animals received chopped Napier grass ad Iibilum. Four levels of palm kernel cake supplementation were offered to each goat: 0 (Rl), 1% (R2) and 2% (R3) of body weight and ad libilurn (R4). The results showed that the palm kemel cake and Napier grass contained 22.5% crude protein, 4250 and 4049 cal/g energy, respectively. The supplementation of palm kernel cake increased (P<.05) the intakes and digestibilities of dry matter, crude protein and energy; but
there was no different (P>.05) between treatment R2 and R3. The average daily gain was significantly (P<.05) affected by treatments. The highest average daily gain was 49 g/d (R4).