Abstract
The study was conducted with the objective of determining the carcass characteristics of Begait sheep fed hay basal diet and supplemented with different levels of Tsara (Pterocarpus lucens) leaves, pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) leaves and concentrate mixture on iso-nitrogenous basis to supply 66.60 g/day crude protein on dry matter (DM) basis. Twenty five yearling male Begait sheep with initial body weight (BW) of 24.2±1.1 kg (Mean±SD) were used in a Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) based on their initial BW. The hay was fed on ad libitum basis to all sheep. Treatments were hay alone (T1) or supplemented with 400 g DM Tsara leaf (T2), 320 g DM pigeon pea leaf (T3), 360 g DM mixtures of Tsara and pigeon pea leaves (T4) and 300 g DM concentrate mixture (75% rice bran and 25% sesame seed cake; T5). The study consisted of 90 days feeding trial and carcass evaluation at the end. The average final body weight was 32.2, 31.6, 27.76, 28 and 26.88 kg (standard error of mean, SEM = 0.38) in the order of T5 > T2 > T3 = T4 > T1. Hot carcass weight of 14.9, 14.3, 11.3, 11.2 and 9.5 (SEM = 0.33) followed almost a similar trend to that of the final body weight except that values for T2 and T5 were similar. In conclusion, based on the biological performance results supplementation of concentrate mixture (T5) and Tsara (T2) induced a comparable response and were better than the supplemental regimes that contained pigeon pea and are therefore recommended. Key words: Begait sheep, dressing percentage, edible offal components, empty body weight hot carcass weight, non-edible offal components, rib eye muscle area, slaughter weight.  
Highlights
Small ruminants occupy an important economic and ecological niche in agricultural systems throughout the developing countries (Devendra, 2005)
Sheep and goats are among the major economically important livestock, playing an important role in the livelihood of resource poor farmers (Adane and Girma, 2008). They contribute a quarter of the domestic meat consumption, about half of the domestic wool requirements, about 40% of fresh skins and 92% of the value of semi processed skin and hide export trade (FAO, 2004)
The objective of this study was to determine the carcass characteristics of Begait sheep supplemented with different levels of Tsara (P. lucens) and pigeon pea (C. cajan) leaves and concentrate mixture
Summary
Small ruminants occupy an important economic and ecological niche in agricultural systems throughout the developing countries (Devendra, 2005). Sheep and goats are among the major economically important livestock, playing an important role in the livelihood of resource poor farmers (Adane and Girma, 2008). They contribute a quarter of the domestic meat consumption, about half of the domestic wool requirements, about 40% of fresh skins and 92% of the value of semi processed skin and hide export trade (FAO, 2004). There is a growing export market for sheep and goat meat in the Middle Eastern Gulf States and some African countries. Ethiopia can export 700,000 sheep and 2 million goats annually, and at the same time supply 1,078,000 sheep and 1,128,000 goats for the domestic market or consumption (Adane and Girma, 2008)
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
