Dietary Leucaena Leaf Meal Pellets Prevent Live Weight Loss in Timor Bali Cattle During Sea Transport
Dietary Leucaena Leaf Meal Pellets Prevent Live Weight Loss in Timor Bali Cattle During Sea Transport
Aholiab Aoetpah1*, Jemseng C. Abineno2, Ferdy A. I. Fallo2, Gregorius G. Batafor2, Musa F. Banunaek2
ABSTRACT
This study was aimed to prevent live weight (LW) loss in the transported beef cattle on sea voyage from Tenau Portland Kupang, Indonesia to the domestic market. Concentrate pellets containing leucaena (Leucaena leucocephala) leaf meal was added to the basal diet of maize (Zea mays) straw. Twenty eight fattened Timor Bali cattle (Bibos javanicus) (LW 250 ± 34.05 kg) were allocated to treatment groups; maize straw as control (K0) or K0 plus pellets at 0.5% LW (K05), 1% LW (K10) or 1.5% LW (K15). The dietary treatment contained crude protein 3.95; 6.18; 7.15 or 7.77 % DM and metabolizable energy 8.40; 9.93; 10.69 or 11.22 MJ/kg DM, respectively. The green basal diet was fed at 4.08 - 4.39% LW following the regular practiced by the trader. The cattle have ad libitum access to clean water. This study lasted for 16 days in total: 5 pre-voyage, 7 at sea and 4 post-voyage. Data were analyzed using a General Linear Model. The fixed effect of dietary treatment and LW group were tested at the p < 0.05 threshold. The results showed that pellets supplementation increased intakes and in vitro digestibility (p < 0.05). Weight gain differences were statistically insignificant (p > 0.05) despite numerical trends. In summary Timor Bali cattle on maize straw during sea transport were well fed and indicated to gain weight when the cattle were supplemented with leucaena leaf meal pellets.
Keywords | Cattle, Legume, Protein, Supplement, Pellets, Transport
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July 2025
Adv. Anim. Vet. Sci., Vol. 13, Iss. 7,
