Twenty weeks forage re‐growth from 20 multipurpose trees and shrubs (MPTS) species (Albizia ferruginea, Albizia gummifera, Albizia niopoides, Berlinia grandiflora, Bauhimia monandra, Dialium guineense, Dalbergia sissoo, Enterolobium cyclocarpum, Leucaena leucocephala, Lonchocarpus sericeus, Milletia griffoneanus, Milletia thoningii, Napoliana imperialis, Parkia bicolor, Pterocarpus santalinoides, Senna spectabilis, Treculia africana, Terminalia superba, Tetrapluera tetraptera and Xylia xylocarpa) were investigated for their feed value. The MPTS were grown on an ultisol in southeastern Nigeria and were subjected to proximate analyses, nylon bag degradability studies and cluster analysis. Among species, crude protein (CP) ranged from 104 g kg−1 DM in P. bicolor to 205 g kg−1 DM in A. gummifera, neutral detergent fibre (NDF) ranged from 498 g kg−1 DM in L. leucocephala to 771 g kg−1 DM in L. sericeus, acid detergent fibre (ADF) ranged from 303 g kg−1 DM in T. superba to 661 g kg−1 DM in L. sericeus, acid detergent lignin (ADL) ranged from 75 g kg−1 DM in T. superba to 305 g kg−1 DM in L. sericeus. Also, ADF‐ash ranged from 0.78 g kg−1 DM in E. cyclocarpum to 15.58 g kg−1 DM in D.
guineense. Except E. cyclocarpum and S. spectabilis, the remaining 18 MPTS studied had effective degradabilities (ED) less than 500 g kg−1 DM effective degradability. Eight MPTS (A. ferruginea, A. niopoides, B. monandra, D. sissoo, E. cyclocarpum, L. leucocephala, S. spectabilis, T. superba) were classified as high quality, another eight (A. gummifera, B. grandiflora, L. sericeus, N. imperialis, P. bicolor, P. santalinoides, T. tetraptera and X. xylocarpa) as medium quality while, the remaining four (D. guineensis, M. griffoneanus, M. thoningii, T. africana) fell into the low quality class based on their nutrient composition and ruminal DM degradability. The results indicate that most of the MPTS could be used as good quality feed for small ruminants in Nigeria.
