The effect of feeding cassava hay or Stylo 184 hay in diets based on Gamba grass was studied in an experiment with 32 male goats of native breed 13,7±0,46 kg in Lao PDR. The goats were randomly allotted to four treatment groups of eight animals in CRD design. The two factors were type of hay and addition or no addition of cassava root chips. Gamba grass was fed ad libitum in the amount of 120% of the average daily DM intake of grass consumed the previous week. Cassava hay and Stylo 184 hay were fed ad libitum in the amount of 60% of expected total daily intake, 3% of body weight. Cassava root chips were fed at 0 or 110 g per head per day during the experiment. The crude protein (CP) and ash content in cassava hay was higher and the neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber was lower than in Stylo 184 hay. Addition of 110 g cassava root resulted in an increased total feed intake of around 60 g/day but decreased intake of Stylo 184, cassava hay and Gamba grass to a corresponding degree. The highest daily weight gain was 51 g/day on cassava hay, but this was not significantly different from the diet of Stylo 184 hay (43 g/day). There was a significant difference in CP intake between cassava hay and Stylo 184 hay. There were no significant differences in DM intake, live weight gain or feed conversion ratio for DM. The inclusion of cassava root in the diets resulted in higher intake and better growth rate, though not significantly so.

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