Abstract
BackgroundThe huge livestock resources of the country could not be used to its potential due to lack of good-quality feed throughout the year. Consequently, finding alternative feed supplements for livestock is an important step to sustain livestock production in the country. Ficus thonningii leaf is one of the potential feed resources for ruminants in the area. The experiment was conducted with the objective of evaluating the nutrient intake, digestibility and growth performance of local lambs fed natural pasture hay (NPH)-based diet supplemented with graded levels of Ficus thonningii dried leaves (FTL) and determining of the optimum level for replacing of concentrate mixture (CM). Twenty intact male yearling Washera lambs with initial body weight of 17.06 + 1.43 (mean + SE) kg were used in experiment. The experiment was conducted using randomized complete block design having four replications with five dietary treatments. The treatments were T1 = NPH + 0 g FTL +215 g CM; T2 = NPH + 112.5 g FTL +161.25 gCM; T3 = NPH + 225 g FTL +107.5 g CM; T4 = NPH + 337.5 g FTL + 53.75 g CM; and T5 = NPH + 450 g FTL +0 g CM. Data were analyzed using the general linear model procedures of SAS (version 9.3; 2002).ResultsThe results showed that FTL are a good source of crude protein (CP) (126.9 g/KgDM) and fibers (377–426 g/Kg DM). Results also showed that supplementation of higher-level FTL significantly (P < 0.001) increased total DM, OM and fibers intake (P < 0.001), but no significant difference (P > 0.05) observed in CP and ME intakes among treatments. Increasing level of FTL supplementation, however, reduced significantly (P < 0.001) the digestibility coefficient of all nutrients. In terms of ADG, nonsignificant (P > 0.05) differences were observed in lambs assigned up to 75% replacement of CM. The lowest performance was observed in sole FTL supplementation (T5), despite increased nutrients intake.ConclusionIt was concluded that indigenous fodder tree Ficus thonningii leaves could serve as alternative CP supplement in NPH-based feeding of Washera sheep and can be used to replace CM up to 75% to improve performance.
Highlights
The huge livestock resources of the country could not be used to its potential due to lack of goodquality feed throughout the year
Higher crude protein (CP) content was recorded in Ficus thonningii dried leaves (FTL) than natural pasture hay (NPH)
The concentrate mixture of wheat bran and noug seed cake (50:50) proportion had better nutritive value when evaluated in terms of CP and fiber contents as compared to FTL
Summary
The huge livestock resources of the country could not be used to its potential due to lack of goodquality feed throughout the year. The average reported carcass yield for Ethiopian sheep is 10 kg which is lower than the neighboring African countries sheep carcass weight such as Sudan (12 kg); Kenya (13 kg) and Djibouti (14 kg) [3] This low productivity of animals could be reflected by many factors, but shortage of feed in terms of quality and quantity is the critical one in the country. The most important livestock feed resources in Ethiopia are natural pasture, crop residues and grass hay [1, 3]. Multipurpose fodder trees were introduced in the country just four decades ago aimed to supplement these major feed resources. Looking other alternative protein sources from multipurpose fodder trees which are available especially during the dry season is vital and highly commendable
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