Effect of Feeding Rubber Seed Kernel and Palm Kernel Cake in Combination on Nutrient Utilization, Rumen Fermentation Characteristics, And Microbial Populations in Goats Fed on Briachiaria Humidicola Hay-Based Diets (Report‪)‬

INTRODUCTION Persistent shortages of the conventional feedstuffs for livestock feeding in Thailand and the developing countries are caused largely by inadequate production of farm crops to meet the needs both of humans and of their domestic animals. Additionally, the high cost of feed is a sequel to the competition between man and livestock for these feed ingredients. This has forced animal nutritionists to intensify research into the feeding values of potentially useful, attractive, cheaper and readily available protein and energy sources from unconventional crop products. One of these is rubber seed meal obtained from rubber tree seed (Hevea brasiliensis). These seeds are very rich in oil and are produced in quantities of approximately 5 kg/tree annually (Bressani et al., 1983). If the oil, which is very rich in linolenic and linoleic acids (Babatunde and Pond, 1987b), can be extracted and used commercially for food and industrial markets, the cake may be used for livestock feeding. In Kerala, India, feeding of meal at a level of 20 percent has been found suitable for calves and lactating cows (Anonymous, 1976), and Rajan et al. (1990) used rubber seed cake at the 20 percent level (for 200 days) for fattening goats for meat production without adverse effect.