Effect of Groundnut (Arachis hypogaea L.) Haulm and Maize Bran Mixture Supplementation on Growth and Carcass Characteristics Performance of Local Sheep Fed Pasture Hay Basal Diet

The experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of groundnut haulm and maize bran mixture supplementations on feed intake, digestibility, body weight gain and carcass characteristics of local sheep fed hay basal diet at Salga sheep farm in Assosa district, Western Ethiopia. The experiment was laid out in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with four treatments consisting of six blocks with four animals per block based on their initial body weight of 20.12 ± 0.05 kg (mean ± SD). Treatments comprised of feeding natural pasture hay ad libitum T1 = 0; T2 = 100% maize bran (MB); T3 = 50% MB and 50% Groundnut haulm (GNH), and T4 = 100% GNH. The amount of supplements offered was 300 g/day/animal on DM basis. The daily feed intake, daily body weight gain, feed conversion efficiency, dry matter and nutrient digestibility, and carcass characteristics parameters were measured during the experimental period. The study result indicates that the crude protein (CP) contents were 7.12% and 11.6%, and the neutral detergent fiber (NDF) contents were 67.9% and 57.5% for natural grass hay and groundnut haulm, respectively. The total DM intake was higher OM, and ADF digestibility in the control group (T1) was significantly lower than the supplemented groups (P < 0.001), but there is no significant difference between supplemented treatments (T2, T3, T4). The CP digestibility was the least in the control group (T1) than the supplemented (76 vs 85.5, 88.8 and 89.3 for T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively). Furthermore, dressing percentage on slaughter weight and empty body weight basis and rib-eye muscle area were high for T4. Empty body weight and hot carcass weight were higher in T4 (27.5 and 15.2 kg) and T3 (25.5 and 14.1 kg) as compared to the control group (19.8 and 10.3 kg), respectively. Similar to biological performance, the economic analysis also showed that supplementation with T4 resulted in better returns compared to others. Thus, it can be concluded that supplementation in general improved animal performance. Among the supplements, T4 is biologically optimum and economically feasible.