Effect of physical pretreated of oil palm frond on apparent digestibility of Boer goats

Oil palm frond (OPF) was generated the most abundant biomass in palm oil industry. It was widely utilized as animal feed, but OPF cannot be used alone due to its low nutritive value and low digestibility. In order to improve the digestibility of OPF, pretreatment method was applied. Hence, the current study was conducted to determine the digestible nutrients of Boer goats following OPF feeding and to evaluate the effect of physical pretreatment of OPF on apparent digestibility of Boer goat. A trial was conducted at goat farm, Agro Technopark, Universiti Malaysia Kelantan, Jeli campus for 120 days feeding trial and ten (10) days digestibility trial. Twelve (12) male Boer goats were fed with three treatment diets: 88% Napier grass and 12% pellet (Control Group); 84% Napier grass, 12% pellet and 4% chopped OPF (Treatment 1) and 84% Napier grass, 12% pellet and 4% pressed OPF (Treatment 2). All Boer goats were placed in individual pen and free to access water in three months. The results showed that there was no significant difference (p>0.05) observed on apparent digestibility of Boer goats among the treatments. Control group presented higher crude protein and organic matter digestibility compare to other treatments. The highest significant value of crude fat is in Control Group. The dry matter digestibility value of Treatment 2 is higher compare to other treatment. It was concluded that physical pretreated OPF did not give significant effect comparing to other treatments but highly digestible to Boer goat.