Abstract
The purpose of this study is to evaluate effects of partial or full substitution of mulberry leaf meal for concentrate mix on performances of Tigray highland lambs. Thirty intact yearlings Tigray highland male lambs (average initial body weights of 17.8±0.95 kg) were separated into 6 groups based on their live weight with each groups assigned 5 treatment diets (RCBD), that are: T1: 300 g concentrate mix alone, T2: 225 g concentrate mix + 86.55 g mulberry leaf, T3: 150 g concentrate mix + 173.1 g mulberry leaf, T4: 75 g concentrate mix + 259.7 g mulberry leaf and T5: 346.2 g mulberry leaf alone. The treatments diets were designed in such a way that concentrate mix was progressively replaced by mulberry leaf meal from 0% to 100% at iso-nitrogenous level. Lambs were adapted to experimental diets for 15 days, and after adaptation period, feeding trial was conducted. Results reveal that complete substitution of concentrate mix by mulberry leaf meal showed in higher (P<0.05) total dry matter, organic matter, NDF and ADF intake than the sole concentrate mix. The growth performance parameters resulted comparable across all the treatment diets. The slaughter weight and empty weight resulted higher (P<0.05) in sole mulberry leaf meal as compared to the whole concentrate mix supplemented lambs. On the other hand, the dressing percentage on empty body weight base and hot carcass weight showed less difference (P>0.05) across the different treatments. Therefore, mulberry foliage could potentially be used to replace concentrate mix as a feed supplement for the small holder farmers in Ethiopia.
Highlights
In Ethiopia sheep accounted 34% of the live animal exports (Gizaw et al 2013)
The increased Neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF) intake as the proportion of mulberry leaf meal increases obtained in the current study suggests the relatively increased barley straw intake observed and relatively higher fiber fraction in mulberry than that of the concentrate diet
The sole mulberry leaf meal supplementation improved dry matter intake as compared to the whole concentrates mixture suggesting the potential of mulberry leaves in improving intake
Summary
In Ethiopia sheep accounted 34% of the live animal exports (Gizaw et al 2013). Sheep and goats contributed 86% of the total value of meat exports (Legese & Fadiga 2014). Even though the sheep population provided considerable roles to both smallholder farmers and the country’s economy but their present contribution is far below their potential. This is due to the quantity and quality of feed resources available and feeding systems employed which have great impact on their production and productivity. The tendency of increased acreage of cropping land is always at the expenses of decreased available grazing lands, boost the importance of crop residues as animal feed resources. Crop residues are of generally low in nutritive value and are fibrous having low digestible organic matter (OM) per kg dry matter (DM)) and low crude protein (CP) content (Tolera 2008); Gizaw et al 2010)
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