Eighteen castrated Xhosa lop-eared goats of 9 months of age and with a mean initial body weight of 14.63 ±0.26 kg were randomized into three groups consisted of six goats per each group. The groups were balanced in terms of live weights and body scores. The goats were acclimatised to feed and housing for a period of 21 days before commencement of the experiment. Goats were fed two equal amounts, one in the morning at 08:00 h and the other at 15:00 h in the afternoon. Group 1 goats were supplemented with 200 g of driedM. oleiferaleaves (MOL) while group 2 (the positive control) was supplemented with 170 g of sunflower seed cake (SC) per head per day. Group 3 goats (the negative control) were fed on grass hay (GH)ad libitum. In addition, the three groups were given grass hay ad libitumplus 200 g of wheat bran per head/day as energy source. The energy and protein requirements were estimated to be 6.4 MJ ME and 80 g per day to feed the goats for a 60 day period (NRC,2007). The goats were individually fed in feeding troughs and the quantity for each diet was adjusted fortnightly according to changes
in the mean body weights of the goats in each treatment