Effect of Supplementation of Leucaena leucocephala (Lam.) de Wit (Leucaena) Leaves on Growth Performance and Metabolic Profile of Crossbred Calves

Abstract

A four month feeding experiment was conducted to assess the effect of feeding fresh Leucaena leucocephala leaves, replacing 10 % of total daily dry matter of the control diet, feeding on growth performance and metabolic profile of the crossbred male calves of 6-12 months of age. The weight gain, average daily gain, mean Hb concentration, mean blood glucose, blood total protein and mean blood urea were recorded significantly (p<0.05) higher in treatment group. While mean blood creatinine level was higher in control group as compared to the treatment group. It was concluded that Leucaena leucocephala leaves can be incorporated in the diet of crossbred calves @ 10% of dry matter intake/animal/day without any adverse effect on growth performance and metabolism of crossbred calves.