Feed utilization, digestibility and carcass parameters of Tigray highland sheep fed wheat straw supplemented with mixtures of wheat bran and cotton seed cake, in Tigray, Ethiopia

The experiment was carried out at Mekelle University livestock farm, Tigray, Ethiopia. Twenty four male yearling Highland sheep with an average live weight of 162.4kg (mean  standard deviation) were used in the experiment. The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of concentrate supplementation with mixtures of wheat bran (75%) and cotton seed cake (25%) on performance of highland sheep. The experimental design was a randomized complete Block design (RCBD) with four treatments and six replications. The experiment was carried out for 90 days after 21 days of feed adaptation period. At the end of the feeding trial digestibility trial was carried out for seven consecutive days followed by evaluation of carcass parameters. There was significantly higher (P<0.05) total DM intake in the supplemented group than the control treatment. Similarly, there was a significant difference (P<0.05) among all treatments in CP intake due to the increased level of supplementation. Digestibility of DM, OM and CP were also significantly higher (P<0.05) for rams supplemented with the higher level of concentrate mixture than the control treatment. The feed conversion efficiency was significantly (P<0.05) higher for the high level of supplement as compared to the other treatments. The mean values of slaughter weight, empty body weight and rib-eye area were significantly (P<0.05) higher for the 200 and 250 g/d supplemented treatments than the control 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. Therefore, supplementation of WS with 250g DM concentrate mixture is biologically more efficient.