title: Effect of substitution of concentrate mix with Sesbania sesban on feed intake, digestibility, body weight change, and carcass parameters of Arsi-Bale sheep fed a basal diet of native grass hay.
abstract: An experiment was conducted to assess the effect of substitution of concentrate mix with Sesbania sesban on feed intake, digestibility, average daily gain (ADG), and carcass parameters of Arsi-Bale sheep. The experiment employed 25 male sheep with mean (±standard error) initial body live weight (BLW) of 19.1 ± 0.09 kg. The experiment consisted of 7 days of digestibility and 90 days of feeding trials followed by carcass evaluation. The experiment employed a randomized complete block design with five treatments and five blocks. Treatments comprised of grass hay alone fed ad libitum (GHA; control), GHA + 100 % concentrate mix (CM) consisting of wheat bran and noug seed cake at a ratio of 2:1 (0 S. sesban), GHA + 67 % CM + 33 % S. sesban (33 S. sesban), GHA + 33 % CM + 67 % S. sesban (67 S. sesban), and GHA + 100 % S. sesban (100 S. sesban). Total dry matter intake (DMI) was higher (p < 0.001) for sheep in 0 S. sesban-100 S. sesban (800-821 g/day) compared to sheep in control (611 g/day). However, the effect of S. sesban inclusion (0 S. sesban-100 S. sesban) on total DMI was quadratic, and DMI declined after 67 S. sesban. Digestibility of DM, organic matter (p < 0.01), and crude protein were higher (p < 0.001) in supplemented group compared to the control. ADG, feed conversion efficiency (ADG/DMI), slaughter BLW, hot carcass weight, and total edible offals were higher (p < 0.05-0.001) for sheep in 0 S. sesban-100 S. sesban than those in control. Increased level of S. sesban inclusion, in general, reduced growth and carcass parameters in this study. However, there was no difference between 0 S. sesban and 33 S. sesban in most parameters studied. Thus, it can be concluded that S. sesban could substitute a concentrate when it accounted for up to 33 % of the mix.
authors.affiliation: Dilla Agricultural Technical Vocational Education and Training College, Dilla, Ethiopia.
authors.forename: Wondwosen
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Bekele
authors.forename: Solomon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Melaku
authors.forename: Yoseph
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Mekasha
mesh_terms: D000824:Animal Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D004435:Eating / Q000502:physiology*; D005002:Ethiopia; D005243:Feces / Q000737:chemistry; D016014:Linear Models; D008297:Male; D008460:Meat; D011897:Random Allocation; D049931:Sesbania / Q000378:metabolism*; D012756:Sheep / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism