Nutrient utilization and rumen fermentation characteristics in sheep fed Prosopis juliflora dried leaves

The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of feeding P. juliflora dried leaves along with Cenchrus straw and concentrate mixture on nutrient intake, utilization and rumen fermentation in sheep. Fifteen adult Malpura rams were divided into 3 groups of 5 each. All the rams were fed dried Cenchrus straw ad libitum and concentrate mixture @ 1% of the body weight, while rams in G-II and G-III groups were offered additional dried leaves of P. juliflora @ 100 and 150 g/head/day, respectively. The incorporation of leaves significantly (P<0.05) reduced the DM and CP intakes of rams in G-III and G-II groups. Rumen pH and ammonia N (mg/100 ml SRL) was higher (P<0.05) in G-II than in G-III and G-1. Total VFA (mM/dL SRL) and total N (mg/dL SRL) were higher in G-I followed by G-III and G-II, but the difference was non-significant (P>0.05). The digestibility of DM, OM, NDF, ADF, hemi-cellulose and cellulose was comparable among the groups except CP, which reduced significantly (P<0.05) in G-III than that of G-I and G-II. There was negative N balance in G-II and G-III and it was reflected in loss of body weights of 2.98 and 2.76 kg, respectively. It was concluded that dried leaves of P. juliflora cannot be included in the feed as it suppresses feed intake and nutrient availability.