Potential for Using Leucaena leucocephala or Manihot esculenta Leaves for Supplementing Feeding of Goats in West Cameroon

The study of the potntial for using Leucaena leucocephala or Manihot esculenta for supplementing feeding of West African dwarf goats were carried out from November 2003 to January 2004 in the Experimental Farm of the University of Dschang. Twenty four West African dwarf goats, were divided in three groups of eight animals, each one 12 months old with average weight of 13.1±4.4 kg, were used in this study. The animals of the supplemented group received 500 g of Leucaena leucocephala (group 2) or 500 g of Manihot esculenta (group 3) per animal per day, whereas those of the control group (group 1) did not receive any supplement. The animals were weighed every 14 days for the evaluation of growth. The body condition score (BCS) was taken at the beginning and at the end of the study. A sample of 100 g of Leucaena leuco-cephala or Manihot esculenta leaves was taken for the chemical composition analysis. The supplements had a high percentage of crude proteins (26.1% DM and 28.1% DM respectively for Leucaena leucocephala and Manihot esculenta leaves) and organic matter (91.3% DM and 92.8% DM respectively for Leucaena leucocephala and Manihot esculenta leaves). The ash content was 8.7 and 7.3% DM for Leucaena leuco-cephala and Manihot esculenta leaves, respectively. At the end of the study, the average BCS (3.9±0.1 and 3.7±0.1 for animals of group 2 and group 3) and average weight (AW) of the supplemented goats (15.5±3.7 kg and 15.4±3.3 kg for animals of group 2 and group 3) was significantly higher (P < 0.05) than that of the control group (BCS: 2.9±0.1; AW: 13.5±5.1 kg). The total weight gain was 0.7, 2.4 and 2.2 kg correspond-ing to a daily average weight gain of 8.3, 30.4 and 27.6 g/d respectively for the animals of group 1, 2 and 3. The Leucaena leucocephala or Manihot esculenta leaves significantly improved the growth of the West African dwarf goats in West Cameroon.