Abstract:
The study was conducted at Haramaya University goat farm using 24 intact Hararghe Highland sheep with a mean initial body weight of 16.02±2.5 (mean±SD) to investigate the effect of feeding dried Atella with concentrate mixture on feed intake, apparent digestibility, body weight change, feed conversion efficiency, carcass and meat quality evaluations as well as the economic feasibility of feeding regime of sheep fed a basal diet of grass hay. The experiment consisted of 90 days of feeding trial and 7 days of digestibility trial followed by the evaluation of carcass parameters at the end of the digestion trial. The concentrate mixture was prepared from 2:1:1 ratio of wheat bran, noug seedcake and maize, respectively. Atella was collected from local Tella makers and sun-dried on plastic sheet. The treatments were 100% concentrate mixture (T1), 67% concentrate mixture + 33% dried Atella (T2), 33% concentrate mix + 67% Atella (T3) and 100% Atella (T4) and animals in all treatments were given hay ad libtum. The supplement amount was offered on an equal amount (350 g/day) as in fed basis. The experiment was conducted using RCBD. Based on the initial body weight, the experimental sheep were blocked into six blocks of four animals each and randomly assigned to one of the four treatments within the block. The CP content of the supplement was 20.85, 21.17, 21.49 and 21.8 for T1, T2, T3 and T4, respectively. Dietary supplement types had no significant effect (P>0.05) on total DM intake as well as nutrient intake, except CP. Sheep in T4 had high (P<0.001) CP intake than others. The DM and apparent nutrient digestibility were similar (P>0.05) across treatment groups, except CP digestibility, which was lowest (P<0.001) for sheep in T1. Sheep fed T4 had low metabolizable energy intake than other treatment groups. Sheep in T4 had recorded low (P<0.001) final body weight, body weight change and average daily gain than the other treatments, whereas sheep in T2 and T3 had heavier compared to T1. The FCE was higher for sheep in T2 and T3. Hot and cold carcass weight was high (P<0.001) for sheep in T2 and T3 and the dressing percentage was similar among all treatment groups. Rib eye area and rib eye fat thickness were high (P<0.001) for T2 and T3. Total edible offal component was lower (P<0.001) for T4. Total non-edible offal component was similar among the treatment groups. Sheep fed T4 had less bright meat and less flavor (P<0.05) but high (P<0.05) drip loss. However, meat pH, cooking and thawing loss were similar across the treatment groups. In addition, the net return was highest for sheep in T3 followed by T2, T4 and T1 in that order. Therefore, if the availability of Atella is abundant, Tella atella could replace 33-67% concentrate mixture, resulting in better performance of Hararghe highland sheep than diets supplemented with either concentrate or atella alone and could be recommended as a profitable and economically feasible feeding strategy for smallholder sheep fattening.
