Nuha H. Talib1*, Afaf A. Mabrouk1 , Hala E. Elawad1 , and Y. R. Sulieman2

Animal Production Research Centre, Khartoum north, Hillat Kuku-Sudan 2 University of Bahri, College of Animal Production, Alkadaru- Khartoum North- Sudan. *

Corresponding author : (e-mail: nuhahamed0123@hotmail.com).

SUMMARY

An experiment was carried out to evaluate the growth performance and feed utilization by Sudan Desert lambs fed concentrate diet (25% sorghum grains, 40% wheat bran, 32% groundnut cake, 2% lime stone and 1% common salt on as fed basis) and roughages supplemented with graded levels of Moringa oleifera shoots. Eighteen intact Sudan Desert lambs were allocated to two levels of sun-dried Moringa oleifera shoots (200 and 400 g/animal/day) and control diet (0 inclusion of Moringa oleifera). All of the experimental lambs received a basal concentrate diet of 150 g/animal/day and alfalfa forage ad libitum. The design was a complete randomized design (CRD) with 6 animals per treatment. Lambs were fed in groups.

The daily weight gain (146.8- 163.6 g) of the lambs under study were the same (P>0.05) when fed on different treatments. The feeding period of sheep targeted for 40 kg live weight was not significantly (p>0.05) different between treatment groups. Furthermore, digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein (g/kg) of different treatments was not influenced by using Moringa shoots as roughage source.

It was concluded that supplementation with Moringa oleifera shoots up to 400g/animal/day has no negative effect on either lamb performance or feed utilization suggesting higher inclusion rates.

Read Full Text

Download As : PDF