Effect of Treatment of Dry Material Consumption
Dry matter intake influences sheep production performance and can be used as an indicator of feed quality (
Wijaya et al., 2016). Data regarding average consumption of dry ingredients are presented in Fig 1.
The results of variance analysis demonstrated that the treatment had a significant effect (P <0.01) with respect to dry matter consumption. Sheep which were only given field grass (P0) consumed the lowest dry matter of 0.576 kg/head / day and the highest dry matter consumption was achieved in the P1 treatment of 1.115 kg/head/ day. The dry matter content of field grass is lower than that of fermented cocoa beans. Feed with good composition in terms of nutrition and good palability can increase consumption of dry feed ingredients
(Wijaya et al., 2016). Feed is sufficient in protein content and has a fine size structure that can increase the amount of feed consumption
(Handarini et al., 2016). The physical properties and chemical composition of feed can affect consumption in ruminants. Other factors regarding palatability of feed affecting the level of feed consumption are odour, taste, texture and temperature
(Paramita et al., 2008). The average consumption of dry matter that consists only of FCB was 100% higher than
Suparjo and colleagues’ (2011) study with treatment of fermented cocoa pods, concentrates and elephant grass with a dry material consumption of only 434-560 g/head/ day
(Suparjo et al., 2011). The results of this study are in accordance with the standard daily nutritional requirements for sheep according to the NRC (1985) in
Hardianto (2006), stating the daily nutritional requirements for sheep with a body weight of 10-20 kg comprised dry ingredients of 0.5-1 kg or 5% of live weight based on the NRC (1985) in
Suparjo et al., (2011), with sheep of a body weight of 10-20 kg requiring dry matter of 0.24–0.53 kg / head / day (
Hardianto, 2006). According in
Wijaya et al., (2016), dry matter consumption is influenced by body weight, sex and age of livestock - the higher the body weight, the more feed consumption
(Wijaya et al., 2016). Male cattle consume more dry ingredients than females and older sheep can consume more feed than young sheep.
Effect of Treatment into Crude Protein Consumption
Protein consumption is closely related to animal body weight gain. Protein is used to fulfil basic life, production and reproduction. The proportion of digested high proteins in the rumen reaches 70-80%, while high and easily digested feed will produce high NH3 concentrations in the rumen
(Handarini et al., 2016). The average consumption of feed protein during the study is presented in Fig 2.
The results of variance demonstrated that the treatment given had a highly significant effect (P <0.01) on consumption of crude protein. The highest protein consumption was achieved in sheep with treatment P1 (75% FG and 25% FCS) of 228 grams/head/ day and the lowest was in treatment P4 (100% FCS) of 84 grams / head / day). Low protein consumption is caused by low consumption of dry matter and organic matter and lower feed protein content which affects the consumption of less crude protein
(Suparjo et al., 2011). According in
Hardianto (2006), daily nutrition needs for sheep with body weight of 15–20 kg is 127-167 grams CP / head / day (
Hardianto, 2006).
The results of the treatment of P0-P3 exceeded the daily requirements: 194-228 grams / head / day. This result can be explained because the treatment given uses two types of field grass feed ingredients and fermented cocoa seed skin, resulting in high quantity, quality and palatability compared to those treatments using single feed (P4). This result is in accordance with the opinion of
Wijaya et al., (2016) that the quantity and quality of feed consumed by livestock can influence the level of feed nutrient consumption - the higher the quantity and quality of feed, the better nutrient content so that consumption of crude protein is high
(Wijaya et al., 2016).
P4 treatment does not meet the daily requirements of sheep, which is 84 grams / head / day. The treatment only uses a single feed, CFS, causing low palatability and livestock consuming only a low level of feed so that consumption of crude protein is low.
Rafidah (2016) reported that the skin of cocoa beans that have not been processed has a nutritional content of
theobromine compounds of 1.80-2.10 (
Rafidah, 2016). Hence, this factor should be restricted in order to not affect livestock production. The limit on the use of fresh cocoa fruit skin in livestock can reach 30-40% of feed requirements
(National Directorate General of Plantation, 2011). The limit for giving fresh chocolate fruit skin to ruminants is 35%. The skin of cocoa beans should be fermented first prior to being used as animal feed. The content of
theobromine compounds on the skin of cocoa seeds can be reduced by grinding and drying (
Rafidah, 2016). Cocoa seed skin used in the study was drained and fermented so that feeding in the treatment had no limits. Treating P4 with 100% fermented cocoa seed skin does not have a negative effect on livestock. The skin of cocoa seeds that have been drained in this study led to a decrease in
theobromine compounds, with an initial level of 1.80-2.10% falling to 0.606% and after fermentation it further decreased to 0.589%. This result provides evidence that processing can result in good feed ingredients, particularly due to the fermentation process. Fermentation of the skin of cocoa seeds reduces the raw fibre of feed, improves the texture of the ingredients and taste, enhances digestibility, reduces lignin content and theobromine compounds and increases protein levels and palatability
(Sujono et al., 2019). The cocoa seed skin fermentation process in this study used
Trichoderma fungi by anaerobic fermentation. The fermentation in this study led to changes to the nutrition of feed ingredients because the use of
Trichoderma fungi provides good fermentation by increasing the protein content to 3% and decreasing crude fibre to 25%. The fermentation process does not have a negative impact on the animals given the treatment of up to 100% fermented cocoa bean skin.
The results of this study are higher than those study by
Suparjo et al., (2011). Average protein consumption during the study reached 45-72 g / head / day while Hardianto reported an average crude protein consumption per day of each the treatment ranging from 62.76 to 71.03 g / day - this result meets the standard estimate of the adequacy of crude protein requirements (
Hardianto, 2006). Consumption of crude protein in sheep in this study is in accordance with NRC standards of 76-137 g / head / day in
Wijaya et al., (2016) with protein consumption approximately amounting to 77-140 g / head / day. Hardianto stated that feed and crude protein consumption can be influenced by several factors, namely body weight, gender and animal (
Hardianto, 2006). The bigger the animal, the more feed consumption; as noted previously, male cattle consume more dry food ingredients than females and older sheep can consume more than young sheep to meet basic life needs and reproduce. The results of each treatment demonstrated that crude protein consumption in this study meets the basic living standards and growth for local sheep rams.
Effect of Treatment on Body Weight Increase
The average results of fat tail sheep weight gain given fermented cacao seed skin feed are presented in Fig 3.
Based on ANOVA analyses, administration of FCS (P1, P2, P3, P4) significantly affected daily body weight gain of sheep. The highest average daily body weight gain was achieved for the P3 treatment of 102 grams / head / day and the lowest for the P treatment of 90 grams/head/day. According to
McDonald et al., the provision of high-quality feed increases growth rate, while low-quality rations lead to slow growth (
McDonald et al., 2002). Ericksen and
McDonald et al., stated that livestock growth will be better if the number of rations consumed is in accordance with livestock requirements (
Mc Donald et al., 2002;
Ericksen, 2007). Although the existence of theobromine limits the use of cocoa seed skin, the amino acid profile of cocoa pods is better compared to oil palm waste so that it can be used as a protein source that can replace grain proteins in animal feed (
Oluokun, 2005). Protein consumption is closely related to daily weight gain. Consumption of crude protein from each treatment P0-P4 produced an average daily body weight gain of 86-102 grams / head / day. This result is higher than that reported by
Wijaya et al., (2011) - a protein consumption of only 77-140 g/head / day and giving an increase of daily body weight gain of 56-58 grams / head / day
(Wijaya et al., 2016). This result has met the standard estimate of the adequacy of crude protein needs based on body weight to achieve a daily body weight gain of 100 grams / head / day.