Feed intake, digestibility, body weight and carcass parameters of Afar rams fed tef (Eragrostis tef) straw supplemented with graded levels of concentrate mix

Abstract

The experiment was conducted at Alamata Agricultural Research Center, Ethiopia using 20 Afar rams with an initial body weight (BW) of 18.2 +/- 1.76 (mean +/- SD) kg. The objectives were to study the effect of supplementation with concentrate mix consisting of wheat bran (WB), noug seed cake (NSC) and sesame seed cake (SSC) at the ratio of 2:1:1 on dry matter (DM) basis, respectively on feed intake, digestibility, BW gain and carcass parameters of Afar rams fed tef (Eragrostis tef) straw basal diet. The experiment was arranged with four treatments and five replications in a randomized complete block design. The treatments included feeding sole tef straw (T1, control), and daily supplementation with the concentrate mix offered at 150 (T2, low), 250 (T3, medium) and 350 (T4, high) g DM per head. Total DM intake, crude protein (CP) digestibility, daily BW gain (P < 0.001), DM and organic matter (OM) digestibility, and carcass parameters (P < 0.05) were higher in the supplemented than in the control treatment. Intake of tef straw reduced as the level of supplementation increased, whereas the contrary was true for CP intake. Performance in carcass parameters was better for the medium compared to the low level of concentrate mix supplementation. Moreover, the medium level of supplementation did not substitute tef straw intake. Therefore, it is concluded that the medium level of concentrate mix supplement maintained the utilization of the roughage feed and resulted in better carcass parameters.

Substitution of dried mulberry (Morus indica L.) leaf meal for concentrate mix on feed intake, digestibility, body weight gain and carcass characteristics of Abergelle sheep

“…The CP content of DMLM in this study was comparable with previously reported values of 201 g/kg DM (Kandylis et al, 2009) and 203 g/kg DM (Vu et al, 2011). The CP content of WB in the present study was similar with values of 168 g/kg DM (Tolera, 2008) and 168.2 g/kg DM (Hagos and Melaku, 2009). The CP content of NSC in the present study was comparable to value of 331 g/kg DM noted in earlier study (Abraham et al, 2015).…”

Supplementation of Adilo Sheep with Sole or Mixtures of Moringa stenopetala Leaf Meal and Wheat Bran on Feed intake, Body Weight Gain and Digestibility

“…In line with the present study, Hagos and Melaku (2009) and Abebaw and Solomon (2008) found that sheep supplemented with good protein source showed better daily gain and fi nal BW.…”

“…In the current study, the average daily BW gain in the supplemented sheep were comparable with 43.3 -67.1 g/head/day reported in Afar rams supplemented with sole noug seed cake, wheat bran , sesame seed cake and their mixture (Hagos and Melaku, 2009). …”

“…This diff erence in CP values obtained by diff erent scholars might be due to the soil type where the wheat had grown, storage and processing techniques in the milling industry (McDonand, 2002). The NDF and ADF of wheat bran in this study were higher to the values of 317 and 94.6 g/kg DM, reported by Hagos and Melaku (2009), respectively, but lower than 612 g/kg DM reported by Feyera and Animut (2011). The CP content of T1, T2, T3, T4 and T5 was 52.7 g/kg DM, 283.8 g/kg DM, 221.4 g/kg DM, 194.3 g/kg DM and 172.9 g/kg DM, respectively.…”

“…The CP content of WB was 172.9 g/kg DM, which was higher than the values (160, 165 and 168.2 g/kg DM) obtained by Feyera andAnimut, (2011), Solomon (2004) and Hagos and Melaku (2009), respectively, but lower than the value (199.9 g/kg DM) reported by Alemu (1981). This diff erence in CP values obtained by diff erent scholars might be due to the soil type where the wheat had grown, storage and processing techniques in the milling industry (McDonand, 2002).…”