Using Silaged Water Hyacinth to Replace Elephant Grass in the Diet of Boer Crossbred Goats
Using Silaged Water Hyacinth to Replace Elephant Grass in the Diet of Boer Crossbred Goats
Truong Thanh Trung1*, Phan Nhan2
ABSTRACT
The study aimed to evaluate the effects of using silaged water hyacinth to replace elephant grass in the diet on feed and nutrient intake, daily weight gain, and greenhouse gas emissions of growing crossbred Boer goats. The experiment was arranged in a Latin square design (5x5) with 5 treatments, 5 periods, and 5 crossbred goats (Boer x Bach Thao). The five treatments in the experiment included Control, TMR, SWH25, SWH50, and SWH75, respectively: Control (fed each ingredient individually: fermented soya waste, mixed concentrate, and elephant grass), TMR (a mixture of fermented soya waste, mixed concentrate, and elephant grass) and levels of replacing elephant grass with silaged water hyacinth at 25%, 50%, and 75% (DM basis). The results showed that using silaged water hyacinth to replace elephant grass in the diet of growing crossbred goats improved daily weight gain and feed conversion ratio (FCR). However, it was not statistically significant (p>0.05). The SWH75 diet had a higher daily weight gain of 130 g/day (p>0.05). Besides, it reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The daily amount of CH4 emission from rumen fermentation was about 13 g/day (p<0.05), and the amount of CH4 and N2O emission in feces was 93.6 and 30.3 g, respectively (p<0.001). The total amount of CO2 equivalent in the rumen fermentation and feces during the 5 periods was 246 kg, which was less than 179 kg compared to the control treatment (p<0.001). In conclusion, it was possible to completely use silaged water hyacinth to replace elephant grass at 75% in the growing goat diet. Feeding silaged water hyacinth will be promising in goat farming because it results in good weight gain and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.
Keywords | Agricultural by-products, Daily weight gain, Feed efficiency, Greenhouse gas, Nutrient digestibility, Small ruminants
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June 2025
Adv. Anim. Vet. Sci., Vol. 13, Iss. 6,
