Replacing concentrate with dried moringa leaves and studying its effect on growth performance and parasitic load in goat kids

A three-months feeding trial was conducted to investigate the effect of feeding Moringa oliefera dried leaves as replacement to concentrate in the ration of growing goat. Twenty female Barbari goat kids of uniform age and conformation (initial mean body weight of 11.25 ± 1.43 kg; 8 to 12 months) were selected from the herd and divided randomly into four homogenous groups using completely randomized block design. The animals in control group were fed basal diet consisting of roughage and concentrate in equal proportion, whereas in treatment groups T1, T2 and T3, the concentrate mixture was partially replaced with dried M. oleifera leaves at 20, 30 and 40 percent, respectively. Significantly higher average daily body weight gain was recorded in T3 group compared to T1, T2 and control groups. The mean feed conversion efficiency significantly improved in all the treatment groups. The faecal examination showed significant reduction in egg count of Hemonchus sp., Trichuris sp., Moniezia sp., Eimeria sp. parasites. It was concluded that dried M. oleifera leaves could be possible alternative to feed the growing goats and may replace the concentrate up to 40 percent in growing goat and also act as an effective anthelminthic agent.