Dry Matter and Nitrogen Degradability of Tree Leaves in Goat in Arid Region of India

Degradability of DM and N of nine different tree leaves was studied at 6,9,12,15,24 and 48 h in goats. The average DM, CP and tannin content in different tree leaves ranged from 92.91 (D.nutans) to 95.98 (P.juliflora); 11.26 (C.mopane) to 25.37 (P.juliflora) and 2.94 (Z. rolondifolia) to 13.79 (P.cineraria) per cent respectively. The DM and N disappearance increased with increase in incubation period. The effective degradability (ED) of dry matter and nitrogen was high in A.excelsa i.e. 59 and 66 per cent respectively, while ED of DM was low in P.cineraria i.e. 31 per cent and ED of N was low in Z.nummularia i.e. 27 per cent. On partitioning the total nitrogen of the feed into RDN (rumen degradable nitrogen) and UDN (undegradahle nitrogen) P.cineraria exhibited the highest UDN content (70.14%) while A.excelsa had the lowest UDN value (23.33%).