Growth and carcass characteristics of male Sahelian goats fed leaves or pods of Pterocarpus lucens or Acacia senegal

The effect of feeding browse on growth and carcass characteristics was studied using thirty-two 10–12 months old growing Sahelian goats weighing an average of 15.6 kg. The treatments were four diets: Acacia senegal pods, Pterocarpus lucens leaves and pods and a positive control. The browses were offered ad libitum and supplemented with 200 g of hay of Schoenefeldia gracilis and 200 g of millet bran, while the control group received 200 g of millet bran, 200 g of cottonseed cake and hay ad libitum. The highest DM intake was observed for goats fed A. senegal pods, resulting in higher CP intake from this diet. The diet with P. lucens leaves gave a higher feed consumption than the control diet, but CP intakes were similar. The goats fed P. lucens pods diet had the lowest CP intake. The higher intake of the A. senegal pods diet resulted in higher growth rate (56 g/day), comparable to the P. lucens leaves and the control diets (55 and 51 g/day respectively). However, the feed conversion ratio was the lowest for the control diet. The carcass weight, dressing percentage and weight of the primal cuts were higher for goats fed A. senegal pods, P. lucens leaves and the control diet. In conclusion A. senegal pods and P. lucens leaves showed good intake characteristics for goats under stall-feeding conditions. Pods from P. lucens, resulting in lower performance, can be fed with small amounts of millet bran for maintenance of goats during the dry season.