Effect of feeding graded levels of Leucaena leucocephala, Leucaena pallida, Sesbania sesban and Chamaecytisus palmensis supplements to teff straw given to Ethiopian highland sheep

Abstract

The effect of feeding graded levels of Leucaena leucocephala, Leucaena pallida, Sesbania sesban and Chamaecytisus palmensis supplements on intake, digestibility and live weight changes was evaluated using 102 male Ethiopian highland sheep in a 90-day trial. Teff straw ( Eragrostis tef) was fed ad libitum (control diet), or supplemented with graded levels (15, 30, 45, 60% of ration dry matter intake) of L. leucocephala, L. pallida, C. palmensis or S. sesban in a randomized complete block design. Significant ( P<0.05) decrease in teff straw intake was observed, as the level of supplement increased. Substitution rates (g kg −1 supplement) increased with increasing levels of supplementation. Substitution rate varied from 162 to 528 in L. pallida, −89 to 312 in L. leucocephala, −566 to 231 in S. sesban and −10 to 134 in C. palmensis supplemented diets. Dry matter and digestible organic matter intake increased significantly ( P<0.05) with increasing level of L. leucocephala, C. palmensis and S. sesban, but not in L. pallida. Live weight gain increased significantly ( P<0.01) with increasing level of browse supplementation. The animals fed the control diet lost weight (−24.4 g d −1) while the supplemented ones gained weight in the range of 6.5–65.2 g d −1. The maximum live weight gain (65.2 g d −1) was observed in sheep fed a diet with 60% L. pallida. The optimum levels of browse supplementation in terms of live weight gain per g supplement were 45, 45, 30, 30% DM of total ration for L. leucocephala, L. pallida, C. palmensis and S. sesban, respectively. A close relationship between live weight gain and amount of supplement was observed. The digestibilities of DM, OM, N and supplement DM increased significantly ( P<0.05) with increasing level of supplementation. No significant ( P>0.05) differences were observed in NDF digestibility. Faecal nitrogen, urinary nitrogen output and nitrogen retention increased significantly ( P<0.0001) with level of supplementation.