Effects of water hyacinth silage in diets on feed intake, digestibility and rumen parameters of sheep (Ovis aries) in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam

Abstract

Water hyacinth silage (EWH) was used in this experiment. Four growing sheep (19.8±0.43kg) were allocated in a 4x4 Latin square design with 4 treatments including Para grass (EWH0), replacement of 15% Para grass by ensilaged water hyacinth (EWH15), replacement of 30% Para grass by ensilaged water hyacinth (EWH30), replacement of 45% Para grass by ensilaged water hyacinth (EWH45). The study aimed to evaluate effects of replacement of ensilaged water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) to Para grass (Brachiaria mutica) in the diets (DM basis) on feed intake, rumen parameters, nutrient digestibility and nitrogen retention of growing sheep. There was a supplementation of coconut meal, soybean cake and urea to adjust the CP content of diets being 17%. Each experimental period was 14 days including 7 days for adaptation and 7 days for sample collecting. The results showed that DM, OM, CP and NDF of EWH were 19.0, 84.2, 11.2 and 54.2 %, respectively. The DM and CP intake were similar (P>0.05) among the treatments, however, the NDF intake was significantly higher for the EWH0 and EWH15 as compared to EWH30 and EWH45. The nutrient digestibility (DM, OM, CP, NDF) were not significantly different (P>0.05) among treatments and ranged from 66.4 to 67.3%. The results indicated that EWH could be used to replace Para grass at a level of 30% in growing sheep diet.