TITLE:
Digestibility of Sheep Ration Containing Different Levels of Native Grass Hay and Concentrate Mixture of Wheat Bran and Dried Food Left over
AUTHORS:
Mahamed Hassen, Tikabo Gebremariam, Abdihakim Maalin, Guled Hassen
KEYWORDS:
Dried Feed, Digestibility, Grass Hay, Wheat Bran, Sheep
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Animal Sciences,
Vol.12 No.3,
June
8,
2022
ABSTRACT: The experiment was carried out at Mekelle University livestock farm,
Tigray, Ethiopia. 12 male
yearling Highland sheep with an average live weight of 20 + 2.5 kg
(mean ± standard deviation) were used in the
experiment. The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of
digestibility of sheep ration containing different levels of roughage and
concentrate mixture on performance of highland sheep. Food left over was
collected from Mekelle University student cafeteria and dried with sun light
for 3 - 4 days. The experimental design was a randomized complete Block design
(RCBD) with four treatments and
three replications. The experimental animals were grouped into three blocks based on their initial live body weight,
which was determined by weighing after overnight fasting. The experiment
was carried out for 15 days including 5 days
of adaptation period and 3 days of adaptation and
harnessing (fecal bags). At the end of the feeding trial, digestibility
trial was carried out for seven consecutive days. There was significantly
higher (P 0.05) total DM intake in
the supplemented group than in the control treatment. Digestibility of DM and
OM were non-significance (P > 0.05) for all treatments.
Generally, the present study indicated that supplementation of Tigray highland
rams with concentrate mixture had an effect on performance of sheep and the
effects were relatively more pronounced on rams supplemented with the highest
level of concentrate mixture.