REPLACEMENT OF CONCENTRATES BY Azolla pinnata ON GROWTH PERFORMANCE OF TERAI GOAT

The primary goal of an experiment conducted on Terai goats from June 4 to August 8, 2022, at Madi Organic Farm and Research Center Pvt. Ltd., Khairahini, Madi-4 Chitwan, Nepal, was to develop a low-cost concentrate substitute and enhance the growth performance of Terai goat kids. Sixteen goat kids, three to five months old, with an average weight of 11.2 kg, were chosen for the experiment. In order to maintain a similar average weight within the groups, they were allocated to one of the four treatments. The treatment specifics were: T1 = Roughages (4% BW on DM basis) available grass i.e. (80% Napier and remaining other) + Concentrate (1% BW on DM basis), T2 = Roughages (4% BW on DM basis) available grass i.e. (80% Napier and remaining other) + Concentrate (0.85% BW on DM basis) + Azolla (0.15% BW on DM basis), T3 = Roughages (4% BW on DM basis) available grass i.e. (80% Napier and remaining other) + Concentrate (0.70% BW on DM basis) + Azolla (0.30% BW on DM basis) and T4 = Roughages (4% BW on DM basis) available grass i.e. (80% Napier and remaining other) + Concentrate (0.55% BW on DM basis) + Azolla (0.45% BW on DM basis). Each goat kid was tagged for identification, fed according to its body weight and weighed every two weeks interval during the research time. The average daily gain (49.67 g/day) for T2 was substantially larger (p