Nutritional evaluation of jhunjhuna (Trema orientalis) tree leaves in black bengal kids

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the nutritive value of jhunjhuna tree leaves (Trema Orientalis) as sole diet for goat. A growth trial was conducted on growing twelve male goats for 45 days followed by 7 days metabolic trial. The leaves contained 34.0, 86.70, 19.00, 11.00, 50.20, 6.50, 13.30, 1.90 and 0.22 percent of DM, OM, CP, CF, NFE, EE, TA, Ca and P, respectively. The daily dry matter intake was 4.74kg/100kg body weight indicative of its high palatability in goats and was significant (P≤0.05). Digestibility of DM, CP, CF, NFE and EE were 56.16, 63.60, 57.50, 62.50 and 69.16 percent in jhunjhuna fed tree leaves group and in control it was 64.33, 70.50, 58.50, 60.66 and 61.66 respectively. The nutritive value of fresh leaves was 12.10% DCP and 58.36% TDN in treatment group whereas in control 10.03% DCP and 57.20% TDN was recorded. DCP% was significantly higher in treatment group compared to control (P≤0.05). Average daily gain (g) was significantly higher in treatment group as compared to control and values were 46.70 and 38.96 respectively (P≤0.05). Nutrient retention (g/day) for nitrogen, calcium and phosphorus was 6.12, 4.96 and 0.56 in treatment group and in control it was 4.61, 1.89 and 1.04 respectively. The result indicated that fresh tree leaves of Jhunjhna when used as a sole feed provided sufficient nutrient for maintenance and growth of goats.