NUTRITIONAL AND HISTOPATHOLOGICAL STUDIES ON JAMUNAPARI GOATS FED ON CONCENTRATE DIETS SUPPLEMENTED WITH VARIOUS LEVELS OF LEUCAENA LEAVES

Fifteen Jamunapari male goats, weighing 22.0 kg were divided into 3 gr oups of 5 animals each. The animals were offered rations containing le aves and twigs of leucaena leucocephala to provide 0, 25 and 50% of CP of total rations in L-1, L-2 and L-3 groups. Three animals from each group were sacrificed after a feeding for 330 days for pathological ex amination of vital organs. Incorporation of leucaena in L-3 group resu lted in significant(P<0.05) increase in DM consumption. Except EE, the digestibility of DM, OM, CP, ADF, NDF and cellulose was similar on di fferent treatments. Incorporation of leucaena leaves in diets resulted in reduction of EE digestibility which was 62.7, 56.3 and 42.1 in L-1 , L-2 and L-3, groups respectively. The average daily live-weight gain was 39+/-2.3, 48+/-4.5 and 45+/-3.9g per head in L-1, L-2 and L-3 gro ups with no significant differences (P<0.05). Histopathological examin ation of vital organs did not reveal any significant change due to leu caena feeding, excepting in thyroid glands and kidneys. The thyroid gl ands of L-2 and L-3 revealed mild variation in size of follicles with normal or pale staining colloids. Kidneys revealed intense engorgement of interstitial blood vessels with extravasation of red blood corpusc les. It is concluded that leucaena may be providing up to 50% CP of th e ration for goats up to 330 days and it does not cause any serious di sorder in vital organs.