eprintid: 1397 rev_number: 7 eprint_status: archive userid: 2 dir: disk0/00/00/13/97 datestamp: 2025-12-01 12:08:12 lastmod: 2025-12-01 12:08:12 status_changed: 2025-12-01 12:08:12 type: article metadata_visibility: show creators_name: LIEM, Tran Ngoc creators_name: DUNG, Ngo Mau creators_name: DUC, Le Minh creators_name: HAI, Duong Thanh creators_name: TAM, Vo Thi Minh creators_name: AN, Le Van creators_name: ANH, Le Thi Quynh creators_name: CHOTCHUTIMA, Songyos creators_name: BOONSAEN, Phoompong title: Dietary leucaena leaves improve growth performance and carcass quality of Vietnamese goats ispublished: pub subjects: SF divisions: j11 full_text_status: public keywords: Carcass, Feed conversion ratio, Goats, Growth, Leucaena. abstract: The experiment was conducted at a research farm for sixteen male goats, with an average body weight of 12.32 ± 0.14 kg. They were randomly allocated into 4 groups corresponding to 4 diets and fed individually. The diets were formulated to consist of 90% of Guinea grass (Panicum maximum) and 10% of concentrated feed as basal (in DM). Leucaena leaves were substituted at 0%, 10%, 20% and 30% of Guinea grass in four respective diets. A 2-week adaptation period was provided for the goats to the diets and feeding system before data collection. Feed intake, weight gain, feed conversion ratio, and carcass traits of goats differed significantly among the four diets (P < 0.05). The inclusion of leucaena leaves in the diets increased feed intake. As the levels of leucaena leaves in diets increased up to 30%, there were corresponding improvements in weight gain. Daily weight gain increased from 45 to 61 g/day and feed conversion ratio (FCR) decreased from 8.43 to 6.62 kg feed/kg gain. Higher leucaena inclusion improved carcass traits but did not affect loin meat quality. Economic analysis also indicated that including up to 30% leucaena leaves in the goats’ diet provides a profitable outcome for farmers. The economic impact increased with the rising levels of leucaena leaves in the goats' diet. It is recommended that leucaena leaves be utilized for goat raising in smallholder farming systems in Vietnam. date: 2025-09-30 publication: Online Journal of Animal and Feed Research volume: 15 number: 5 publisher: Online Journal of Animal and Feed Research pagerange: 257-263 id_number: 10.51227/ojafr.2025.29 refereed: TRUE issn: 2228-7701 official_url: http://dx.doi.org/10.51227/ojafr.2025.29 j_index: scopus citation: (2025) Dietary leucaena leaves improve growth performance and carcass quality of Vietnamese goats. Online Journal of Animal and Feed Research. pp. 257-263. ISSN 2228-7701 document_url: http://eprints.science-line.com/id/eprint/1397/1/OJAFR15%285%29257-263%2C2025.pdf