Effect of addition of leaves from Combretum aculeatum and Leucaena leucocephala on digestion of Sorghum stover by sheep and goats

A series of four digestibility trials, each with four local adult castrated sheep and goats, conducted in Burkina Faso, confirmed the superiority of goats in using the low quality roughage chopped sorghum stover. Goats ingested less DM, but through selection and better digestion they absorbed more OM than sheep. A diet with 30% Combretum aculeatum was as digestible as one with supplementation from agro-industrial by-products but the first allowed the absorption of more OM, especially by goats. The ration with 30% Leucaena leucocephala was not as digestible and the diet with 10% Leucaena leucocephala did not provide maintenance requirements. Refusal of chopped Sorghum bicolor stovers decreased if it was supplemented with 30% dried tree leaves, which are more available to farmers than agro-industrial by-products. Utilization of browse species in ruminant nutrition will contribute to the durability of the mixed agricultural production system through more intensive recycling of cereal crop residues. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science B.V.