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Tropical tree foliage and shrubs as feed additives in ruminant rations

Abstract:

In the tropical regions of Mexico there are available many types of foliage and pods of trees and shrubs which hold potential to be used for ruminant feeding during critical periods of the year. This vegetation usually contains good concentrations of crude protein and fermentable carbohydrates but some are only seasonally available or may contain different types of secondary metabolites with potentially deleterious effects on animal health and productivity. This chapter presents some of the data obtained in this laboratory concerning the effect of the addition of several levels of foliage on intake, digestibility and productive performance of tropical sheep. When high quality foliage such as Brosimum alicastrum and Leucaena leucocephala are consumed by ruminants, they usually increase ammonia nitrogen concentration in the rumen and thus microbial protein synthesis in this organ. Dry matter intake was generally increased when highly fermentable foliage were added to the ration of sheep, increasing passage rate from the rumen. Types of tropical legumes such as pods of Enterolobium cyclocarpum and Acacia pennatula were added to the rations of growing sheep at various levels and the daily weight gain recorded was comparable to that obtained with concentrate rations, although feed conversion efficiency was lower. It is concluded that foliage and pods of tropical trees and shrubs have ample potential to improve ruminant production in the tropics, being able to even improve the quality of meat and milk by increasing the concentration of unsaturated fatty acids (conjugated linoleic acid or CLA) in ruminant products. © 2013 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.