Nutritive value of Ficus religiosa in West African dwarf goats

The feeding value of Ficus religiosa (FR) was investigated with West African dwarf (WAD) goats, by feeding FR with Panicum maximum grass (PM) at different ratios of 0:100 (i.e. solely PM), 25:75, 50:50, 75:25 (which were mixture of forages) and 100:0 (solely FR). The study lasted for 105 days, during which feed intake, weight gain, digestibility and nitrogen utilization were monitored in 20 goats using a completely randomized design. The DM, OM and NDF intakes (g/kg W0.75/day) were similar among the diets of FR–PM mixtures (means equal to 58.08, 51.68 and 39.27, respectively), but were significantly higher than those of the sole FR and PM forage diets, which were also similar (means equal to 36.13, 31.97 and 24.33, respectively). Crude protein intake (g/kg W0.75/day) was highest in the 75% FR diet (6.16), but similar to those of other mixed forages and sole FR, and the significantly lowest value was in the sole PM diet (2.54). Live weight gain followed the trend of CP intake with the highest value in 75% FR (34.3 g/day) and the least from sole PM (8.9 g/day). The digestibility of DM, OM, CP and NDF were generally high, but best in the 75% FR diet. The N balance (g/kg W0.75) and retention (%) were also highest in 75% FR (0.63 and 65.40) and lowest in the solely PM diets (0.14 and 37.11). Results indicate that feed intake, weight gain, digestibility and N utilization can be enhanced by feeding FR in mixture with PM, and it can be used in diet mixtures up to 75% of DM fed.