Effect of cassava hay in high-quality feed block as anthelmintics in steers grazing on ruzi grass

Abstract

Six, one-year old dairy steers were randomly divided into two groups according to a Completely randomized design (CRD) to receive high-quality feed block (HQFB) without cassava hay and drenching (HQFB1+Ivomex) and HQFB with cassava hay (HQFB2) as block licks while grazing on Ruzi grass pasture. During the eight weeks, fecal parasitic egg counts dramatically declined for both treatment groups with 63.2 and 27.6% reduction from initial period for HQFB1+Ivomex and HQFB2, respectively. However, digestion of coefficients of nutrients particularly OM, were significantly higher in HQFB2 than, those in HQFB1+Ivomex, in addition, ADG of animals in HQFB2 tended to be higher than the group on HQFB1. It was, hence concluded that cassava hay could not only provide as a protein source but also serve as an anthelmintic in ruminants.