»How acacia leaf meal will boost pigs growth«
There has been a shortage of feeds for most livestock and that is why scientists have to find other alternatives .scientist from south Africa wanted out find out if acacia leaves can be used as pig feeds.
It was found that acacia has a lot of nutrients that are good for pigs. There are many acacia varieties but A. tortilis is the most suitable variety. Acacia is a good source of crude proteins ,fats and has a good amount of detergent fibre. The leaves are harvested, dried, sieved and stored in containers ,then they test several inclusion levels. A. tortilis can be included up to 150g /kg of feeds. It can be fed to pigs and it does not interfere with the pigs performance. The ability with which pigs utilise leaf meal based diet improves with duration of exposure.
Acacia
Scientist have considered acacia as an alternative feed for pigs. There are many varieties of acacia ; Acacia tortilis, Acacia robusta , Acacia nilotica, Acacia nigrescens and Acacia xanthophoela.
Among other varieties Acacia tortilis and A. xanthophoela are found to be the good to use because its leaves are high in crude proteins, fat content, detergent fibre and acid . However the variety that is used is Acacia tortilis.
Materials and methods
Among the things needed to prepare Acacia leaf meal include; acacia tortilis leaves and branches ,a sieve and an airtight flask.
Collect branches and leaves of Acacia tortlis ,dry the leaves and branches properly under a shade ,the reason for drying under the shade is to prevent damage by heat sensitive nutrients .Sieve through a 2mm sieve and store in an airtight flask. The leaf meal is at this stage ready for use
Administration
The acacia is fed to F1 pigs. There is need to test several inclusion levels so as to know which one works best .You can have grams per kg; 50 grams, 100 grams,150 .rams,200 grams and 250 grams.
Feed this to the livestock for 21 days. Ideally Acacia tortilis can be included up to 150 grams per kg of fees. Feeding on acacia does not affect the performance of pigs. The ability with which pigs utilise leaf meal based diets improves with duration of exposure /adoption to such diets.
