Nutrient Digestibilities in Rusa Timor (Cervus timorensis de Blainville 1822) Fed on Maize Forage ad libitum Supplemented with Rice Bran and or Gliricidia sepium a*M.S.Arifuddin, aDamry, aM. Mangun, aNajamudin, bR. Utomo
aStudy Program of Animal Science, Faculty of Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Tadulako University, Palu 94119, Indonesia
bFaculty of Animal Science, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, 55288, Indonesia
Abstract
Abstract
A study was carried out to investigate nutrient digestibilities in rusa timor (Cervus timorensis) fed on maize forage ad libitum supplemented with rice bran and or Gliricidia sepium. This was done in Palu, Indonesia from June to December 2011 using five male rusa timor with an age range of 1 - 2 years old and body weight of between 30 - 45 kg. The animals were allocated to five treatments each of which was replicated five times following a latin square experimental design. The treatments tested were R0 = maize forage ad libitum (M)- R1 = M + rice bran 1.5%- R2 = M + rice bran 1.0% + 0.5% Gliricidia sepium- R3 = M + rice bran 0.5% + Gliricidia sepium 1.0%- R4 = M + Gliricidia sepium 1.5%. The supplements were provided as percentages of animal body weight on dry matter basis. Each period consisted of preliminary and data collection phases. Data of feed consumption and faecal excretion samples were collected for seven days, and the samples were bulked at the end of the study and sub sampled for laboratoty analysis. Data were analysed with an analysis of variance. Results indicated that the treatments did not affect (P > 0.05) the nutrient digestibility of feed dry matter, organic matter, and crude protein, but it did affect (P < 0.05) that of crude fat.
