Indian Journal of Animal Nutrition
  • Year: 2025
  • Volume: 42
  • Issue: 1

Effect of Feeding Rubber (Hevea brasiliensis) Seed Meal Based Diets on Intake, Nutrient Digestibility and Growth Performance in Goats

  • Author:
  • J. Balaji1, T.M. Prabhu1,*, H.S. Madhusudhan1, B.N. Suresh1, M. Vivek Patil1, H.K. Siddalingamurthy2, B.S. Deepak1
  • Total Page Count: 9
  • Page Number: 9 to 17

1Department of Animal Nutrition, Veterinary College, Hebbal, KVAFSU, Bengaluru - 560 024

2Livestock Research and Information Centre (Sheep), KVAFSU, Nagamangala, Mandya Dist., Karnataka

*Correspondence: prabhutmann@gmail.com

Online published on 04 April, 2026.

Abstract

The study investigated the processed rubber seed meal (RSM) as an alternative feed ingredient in goat kids. The chemical analysis indicated that RSM contained 30.85 % CP and 14.13 MJ ME / kg DM. The methods employed to detoxify raw RSM were soaking, boiling with and without decanting and fermentation for different time periods and the residual hydrogen cyanide levels were below the detectable levels in all processed RSM. The in vitro true digestibility (%) of raw and boiled RSM with respect to DM, OM and NDF was 92.11, 92.47 & 63.48 and 87.88, 88.38 & 59.64, respectively. For feeding trial, 15 kids of comparable body weight and age were distributed into three groups of 5 each in completely randomized design. The compounded feed mixture (CFM) containing groundnut cake (GNC) as a protein supplement was served as control (T1) and test CFMs contained boiled RSM replacing 12.5 % (T2) and 25 % (T3) of GNC nitrogen in control. Each CFM was fed to one of the three groups while the COFS-29 hay was offered ad libitum for a period of fourteen weeks. The total dry matter intake (DMI) in terms of g/d (273.4 to 307.9) or % BW (2.68 to 2.94) was similar among the groups. However, the DMI in terms of g/kgW0.75 was lower (P<0.05) in T3 (47.82) compared to control (52.72) which might be due to lower hay intake in T3 (57.66 g/d) compared to T1 (81.12 g/d). The average daily gain [22.75 (T3) to 32.24 g (T1)] and feed conversion ratio [3.85 (T2) to 4.07 (T3)] were non-significant among the treatments. The digestibility trial conducted during terminal week revealed that the apparent digestibility (%) of DM, OM, CP, EE, NDF and ADF were comparable among treatment diets. The digestible OM in DM was non-significantly ranged between 74.58 (T2) and 71.35 % (T1). It was concluded that boiled RSM can replace conventional protein source upto 25% on nitrogen equivalent basis in CFM of goat kids for sustainable small ruminant production.

Keywords

Detoxification, Digestibility, Goat kids, Growth, Intake, Rubber seed meal