Potential for Using Leucaena leucocephala or Manihot esculenta Leaves for Supplementing Feeding of Goats in West Cameroon

The study of the potntial for using Leucaena leucocephala or Manihot esculentafor supplementing feeding of West African dwarf goats were carried out from November 2003 to January 2004 inthe Experimental Farm of the Universityof Dschang. Twenty four West African dwarf goats, were divided in three groups of eight animals, each one 12 months old with average weight of 13.1±4.4 kg, were used in this study. The animals of the supplemented group received 500 gof Leucaena leucocephala(group 2) or 500 gof Manihot esculenta (group 3) per animal per day, whereas those of the control group (group 1) did not receive any supplement. The animals were weighed every 14 days for the evaluation of growth. The body condition score (BCS) was taken at the beginning and at the end of the study. A sample of 100 gof Leucaena leucocephalaor Manihot esculenta leaveswas taken for the chemical composition analysis. The supplements had a high percentage of crude proteins (26.1% DM and 28.1% DM respectively for Leucaena leucocephalaand Manihot esculenta leaves) and organic matter (91.3% DM and 92.8% DM respectively for Leucaena leucocephalaand Manihot esculenta leaves). The ash content was 8.7 and 7.3% DM for Leucaena leucocephalaand Manihot esculenta leaves, respectively. At the end of the study, the average BCS (3.9±0.1 and 3.7±0.1 for animals of group 2 and group 3) and average weight (AW) of the supplemented goats (15.5±3.7 kgand 15.4±3.3 kgfor animals of group 2 and group 3) was significantly higher (P