The face of mothers from Banyu Soca Playen village in Gunung Kidul regency were radiant. They were processing the grass to feed their goats whilst listening attentively to the instructions from the supervisors, who are three professors, lecturers and students of Faculty of Animal Sciences UGM. This is an event for community service from the Faculty, particularly the Nutrition and Feed Department.
The event aims at sharing knowledge to the community how to make good, long lasting feed. “The animal feed can be stored for a long time to resolve the problem of lack of feed during the drought in this regency,” said chairman of the Department, Prof Kustantinah.
Another lecturer, Prof. Ristianto Utomo, explained there were a slight difference between goat and lamb feeds. Ristianto said we need to know first the goal of making the feed. “In addition, availability of materials for nutrition level that is required as well as palatability became a consideration,” said Ristianto.
Feed biochemical expert, Prof. Lies Mira Yusiati added the popular feeds need to be monitored on the nutrition contents. She said knowledge on anti-nutrition is as important as the nutrition itself.
Another feed expert, Bambang Suwignyo, Ph.D., explained the white leadtree leaves contain 5% mimosine and tannin. But the effect can be minimised by drying the leaves first.
One of the farmers, Suwati, said they purposely came to the Faculty to learn about goat feed. “Alhamdulilah, we can make this happen. We appreciate the Faculty of Animal Sciences UGM that had trained us since 2007, from only 20 members to 70 currently,” she said.