Abstract
The experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of groundnut haulm and maize bran mixture supplementations on feed intake, digestibility, body weight gain and carcass characteristics of local sheep fed hay basal diet at Salga sheep farm in Assosa district, Western Ethiopia. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four treatments consisting of six blocks with four animals per block based on their initial body weight of 20.12 ± 0.05 kg (mean ± SD). Treatments comprised of feeding natural pasture hay ad libitum T1 = 0; T2 = 100% maize bran (MB); T3 = 50% MB and 50% Groundnut haulm (GNH), and T4 = 100% GNH. The amount of supplements offered was 300 g/day/animal on DM basis. The daily feed intake, daily body weight gain, feed conversion efficiency, dry matter and nutrient digestibility, and carcass characteristics parameters were measured during the experimental period. The study result indicates that the crude protein (CP) contents were 7.12% and 11.6%, and the neutral detergent fiber (NDF) contents were 67.9% and 57.5% for natural grass hay and groundnut haulm, respectively. The total DM intake was higher (P
Highlights
In Ethiopia sheep is among the major livestock kept across different agro-ecological zones and its population is estimated to be 39.9 million [1]
The result of the current study indicated that maize bran was lower crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) content than both natural grass hay and groundnut haulms feeds Table 2
This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of groundnut haulms, maize bran and their mix supplementation on local sheep meat production performance in Assosa District
Summary
In Ethiopia sheep is among the major livestock kept across different agro-ecological zones and its population is estimated to be 39.9 million [1]. The common feature of all production systems used in Ethiopia is mainly the extensive type characterized by small flock sizes and the flock being periodically devastated by poor management. Sheep are playing an important economic role in Ethiopia in the form of meat, milk, skin, hair, horns, manure and religious rituals [3]. In Ethiopia, sheep are the second most important livestock species next to cattle and play an important economic role and make a significant contribution to both domestic and export markets through the provision of food (meat and milk) and non-food (manure, skin and wool) products [5]
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