Effect of Dry Cassava Leaf Supplement on Behaviour and Production of Grazing Swamp Buffaloes
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The study was undertaken to examine the effect of dry cassava leaf supplement and different grazing periods on behaviour and production of swamp buffaloes. A grazing trial was conducted from March to June 2008 at Surin Livestock Research and Breeding Center, Surin Province. The experimental period was divided into two 40-day sub-periods, i.e. dry and early wet seasons, with a 20-day transition period. Eighteen 2-year-old swamp buffalo heifers were divided into six groups, each of three heifers, with the mean group weights being similar. Two groups were randomly assigned to each of three temporal patterns of pasture provision as follows: access to pasture from 06.00 h to 06.00 h (24-h treatment, DN), access between 06.00 h and 18.00 h (daytime treatment, D) or access between 18.00 h and 06.00 h (nighttime treatment, N). The six groups grazed separate 3-rai paddocks of ruzigrass. When not at pasture, the animals allocated to treatments D and N were kept in a common corral with free access to fresh drinking water and mineral blocks. Dry cassava leaf (Manihot esculenta Crantz) was offered at about 1% of body weight each day to animals on treatments D and N. Individual animal activities were recorded by visual observations conducted at 5-min intervals throughout 3 days in each period. The results showed that buffaloes on DN treatment spent longer (P<0.05) grazing and had more grazing meals (P<0.05) than those on treatments D and N. Although the total ruminating time between some treatments differed by more than 1 h, these differences were not significant. Estimated total intake was greater (P<0.05) for the supplemented buffaloes (D and N) than the unsupplemented buffaloes. Buffaloes supplemented with dry cassava leaf gained weight, while buffaloes on the 24-h treatment (DN) lost 0.13 kg body weight per day during sub-period 1 (dry season). During sub-period 2 (early wet season) even though all treatments gain weight, the supplemented buffaloes had significantly higher average daily gain (0.61 and 0.77 vs. 0.33 kg/head/day on treatments D, N and DN respectively, P<0.05). It is suggested that during the dry season, offering them a supplement of dry cassava leaf will enhance the buffalo production.
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