International Journal of Agricultural Science Research Vol. 5(2), pp. 035-039, March 2016 ISSN 2327-3321 ©2016 Academe Research Journals

Full Length Research Paper

Effect of graded level of pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) leaves on growth performance of sheep

Shumuye Belay¹*, Guesh Godifey¹ and Minister Birhanea²

¹Mekelle Agricultural Research Center, Tigray, Ethiopia.

²Abergelle Agricultural Research Center, Tigray, Ethiopia.

*Corresponding author. E-mail: shumuyeb@yahoo.com.

Accepted 15 January, 2016

Abstract

A study was conducted with the objective to evaluate the nutritional value of pigeon pea leaves and its effect on growth performance of the Abergelle rams. It was conducted at Kola-tembein district, northern Ethiopia. It was implemented under the farmers’ management practice. Eight farmers who can provide three intact male rams participated in the experiment. The four treatments (0, 200, 300 and 400 g dried leaves) were assigned randomly to the eight farmers and two farmers received the same treatment. Six rams were allocated for a treatment. Feed intake and feed left were measured daily where as daily weight gain was measured every two weeks. Both the control and supplemented rams were grazed in the field for about 10 h per day. Feed sample was collected and its nutritional content was analyzed. Dried leaves mixed with twigs had 904 g/kg DM, 236g/kg CP, 82 g/kg ash, 2.76 g/kg Mg, 6.62 g/kg Ca, 0.25 g/kg Fe and 2.3 g/kg P. DM and CP intake had significant difference (P<0.05) among the treatments. The Crude protein (CP) intake of rams assigned in T2, T3 and T4 were 44.05, 64.21 and 82.04g day^-1head^-1 respectively. This CP intake excluded the CP obtained from grazing which was difficult to estimate. However, there was different browse tree and grass species used as sources of protein and energy respectively. Generally, supplemented rams had higher weight gain (P<0.05) compared to non-supplemented rams but no statistical difference was observed among the supplemented rams. Therefore, supplementing of dried leaves for rams could be an alternative feed resource, which contribute in minimizing the feed scarcity both in quality and quantity because of its accessibility to smallholder farmers.

Key words: Abergelle sheep, Cajanus cajan, feeding trial.