Types of Good and Nutritious Goat Feed Grass

The main feed for livestock such as cattle, buffalo, sheep, goats and others consisting of grass, nuts and leaves. This type of feed can also come from agricultural waste such as rice straw, corn leaves, sugarcane shoots and others.

Forage feed will be more and more in accordance with the increasing number of cattle population owned. The main obstacle to the provision of forage for livestock is the availability of which is not fixed throughout the year. Forage production will be abundant during the rainy season, on the contrary during the dry season the production level will be low or even not produce at all.

One of the easiest forage fodder to find is grass which usually comes from weeds on roadsides and rivers, forests and even those that grow on plantations.

It is estimated that there are about 10,000 species of grass in the world. The amount of biomass produced is very diverse, as well as its nutritional content. Grass is a source of crude fiber which plays a role in maintaining the health and function of the rumen. The forage contains fiber (cellulose and hemicellulose) which are a source of energy for rumen microbes, as well as minerals and protein (especially from legumes) which are a source of N for bacteria and protein in the product.

Therefore, the success of cattle, goat and sheep farming is very dependent on the availability of forage feed in sufficient quantities and with a lot of nutrients.

There are various types of grass forage that are often used for animal feed, including:

 

1. Elephant Grass (Pennisetum purpureum)

Elephant grass comes from Africa and can grow tall and upright as high as 3-4,5 m. If left free can be as high as 6 m, roots as deep as 4.7 m. Leaves reach 17-91 cm long and 7-33mm wide.

 

2. King Grass (Pennisetum purpudoides)

This grass is the result of a cross between P. purpureum and P. typhoides and comes from South Africa. It has the characteristics of growing into clumps and dark green in color with the inside of the leaf surface being rough, the leaf bones are whiter than elephant grass.

Forage production of king grass is 2 times that of elephant grass, reaching 35 tons of grass per hectare once harvested or 200-240 tons of fresh grass per hectare a year.

 

3. Setaria Grass (Setaria sphacelata)

This species comes from tropical Africa and is bred by pols and seeds. This grass is erect, densely clumped, strong, smooth-leaved on the surface and can reach 3 m in height. The leaves are wide dark green, soft trunk with a slightly purple red color, the leaf midrib at the base of the stem is arranged like a fan.

 

4. Brachiaria grass (Bhachria brizantha)

Native to Africa and bred using pols. This grass can live and grow in the lowlands to highlands, 0-1100 cm altitude, rainfall of more than 1600 mm per year and on light, moderate to heavy structures.

The stems and leaves are stiff and rough, very suitable for hay grass because the stems are small so they dry out easily.

 

5. Bengal Grass (Panicum maximum)

It can reach 1 to 1.7 m in height with leaves finer than elephant grass, leaf tongue with a number of saplings and has many tillers. Flowers are green or yellowish with fibrous roots. This type of grass serves for ground cover and of course animal feed.

 

6. Kolonjono Grass (Brachiaria mutica)

Brachiaria mutica or often called kolonjono grass is a grass originating from Africa and South America. Kolonjono grass grows well in areas with an altitude of not more than 1200 m above sea level with a rainfall of 1000 mm.

 

7. Australian grass (Paspalum dilatatum)

Paspalum dilatatum or often called Australian grass is one type of animal feed plant originating from Argentina, United States.

This grass can grow in soils of medium to heavy structure, but grows best in heavy, moist, fertile soils. This plant is able to live at an altitude of 0-2000 mdpl with a rainfall of 900-1400 mm/year.

 

8. Odot Grass

This grass has good palatability to be used as goat feed or sheep feed. This is because this grass has a softer texture than elephant grass and king grass. Therefore, odot grass is not hairy like that found in elephant grass and king grass.

Here are some types of grass that are suitable and good for animal feed intake. Are there any types of grasses above that you have used? Or are there other types of grass plants that you have used? And to make it easier to cut grass, you can use a grass chopper chopper machine because the grass chopper machine is easy to use.

In this article, we will explain more about the types of odot grass.

 

Odot Grass Makes the Goat's Weight Soar

Desire to plant for goats, rump

ut odot is a very appropriate choice. These animals are known as farm animals that eat picky. Or usually known as browsing.

Not all types of grass will be liked by goats. For example, king grass and elephant grass. In contrast to cows who really like elephant grass and king grass. If elephant grass and king cow grass just want, then odot will also want. Unlike the case with odot grass. It has been widely planted and cultivated by goat breeders. This grass is known to have good palatability to be used as goat feed or sheep feed.

Because this grass has a softer texture than elephant grass and king grass. There is hair on elephant grass and king grass, while this grass is not hairy. Then how is the quality of this grass to be used as goat feed?

 

Odot Grass Productivity

Another name for odot grass in Indonesian is dwarf elephant grass. But among goat and sheep breeders it is better known as odot. As the name suggests, elephant grass is dwarf, the forage productivity of this grass is not as much as elephant grass. Thus, the productivity of this grass can be maximized by optimizing the number of tillers in each clump.

In order to maximize it, there are several factors that need to be considered. Because these factors will affect whether or not the forage production of this odot will be good. These influences include the need for water, the amount of shade, fertilization, soil fertility, pruning and spacing. This grass is very responsive to the amount of water and fertilization. that is, grass height, leaf width and forage yield can be very different between fertilized and unfertilized grass.

Produces forage as much as 24.22 tons/ha/year in dry weight for the production of odot grass. This is without fertilizer. And to note it in dry weight. How to get a number in fresh weight, just multiply it by 100 then divide by 13.55. The result is 178.4 tons/ha/year in the form of fresh grass. Added as much as 2 – 3 sacks of NPK fertilizer/ha/year, the production of odot grass can be as much as 47.16 tons/ha/year. Production can be almost 2 times.

The total amount of forage production above is if the harvest is at the age of 2 months. Had it been harvested earlier, the production would have been less. We will take a deeper look at these factors. Although not much, fortunately there has been a study on the productivity of this grass.

 

Comparison of odot grass and elephant grass

When compared to elephant grass, odot has its own advantages.

The advantages of odot grass are:

1. Faster growth.

2. More forage production.

3. The number of leaves is more. The ratio or ratio between stems and leaves is 1: 2. Suppose the weight of the stem is 5 kg, then the leaves are 10 kg.

4. Fuzz.

5. Soft leaves and stems.

6. Preferably cattle.

7. Growth after cutting is better. The number of tillers produced is more.

8. The content is higher than elephant grass with smaller crude fiber.

9. Nutrients that can be digested by livestock are higher.

10. Still favored by livestock even though it is given in dry form.

The content of the comparison of nutrients can be seen in the table below