Effect of Opuntia ficus indica on female goat nutrition

The objective of this study is to investigate the effect of barley substitution by cactus during pre-mating phase on some reproductive parameters and blood metabolites of goats.
Forty adult goats of local breed were allocated to two groups based on live their weight. Each goat of both groups received 0.9 kg of barley straw. Goats on concentrate group (CC) received in addition 425g/goats/day of a concentrate (mixture of 80% barley and 20% soybean). Goats in the cactus group (CAC) received 256g of a concentrate (mixture of 68% barley and 32% soybean) and 2600g of cactus pads. Feeding regimes were applied on the average for one sexual cycle before mating and continued until 5 weeks after.

Nutrient intake and utilization in sheep fed opuntia ficus indica

Range Management and Agroforestry
Year : 2018, Volume : 39, Issue : 1
First page : ( 97) Last page : ( 102)
Print ISSN : 0971-2070. Online ISSN : 2249-5231.

The nutritive value of opuntia [(Opuntia ficus-indica (L.) Mill.] in conjunction with conventional fodders was assessed on 32 adult sheep (31.00+0.85 kg body weight (BW) and 2 to 3 years in age) divided into four equal experimental groups. The experimental diets consisted of chopped (5-8 cm) Opuntia cladodes to provide 20 percent of dietary DM in conjunction with chopped green Napier (Pennisetum purpureum) grass (T1), Berseem (Trifolium alexandrinum) hay (T2), lathyrus (Lathyrus sativus) straw (T3)and gram (Cicer arietinum) straw (T4), ad libitum. All experimental animals were supplemented 200 g concentrate supplement per head daily.

Pages