Substitution of pigeon pea leaves for noug(Guizotia abyssinica) seed cake as a protein supplement to sheep fed low quality tropical grass hay

Abstract

Effect of substitution of noug(Guizotia abyssinica) seed cake with pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan) leaves as acrude protein (CP) supplement for sheep fed rhodes grass hay was evaluated. Twenty four yearlingmale sheep with a body weight of 17.3±0.2kg (mean ±SD) were randomly assigned to treatments in acompletely randomized block design. Animals were fed grass hay ad libitum with differentproportion of noug seed cake and pigeon pea leaves: T1= 100% noug seed cake; T2= 35% pigeon pealeaves +65%noug seed cake; T3= 65% pigeon pea leaves+ 35%noug seed cake and T4= 100% pigeonpea leaves in concentrate mixture (20% maize, 35% wheat bran, 1.5% limestone, and 0.5% salt). An 8day digestibility and 70 day growth experiment was conducted. The intake of total dry matter (DM),organic matter (OM) and body weight gain did not differ significantly (p>0.05) between treatments.The highest (p<0.05) CP intake was in sheep fed T2 diets, whereas the lowest was in those fed T4 diet.The digestibility of DM, OM, neutral detergent fiber and acid detergent fiber were similar (P>0.05)among treatments. The CP digestibility for T1 and T2 diets was higher (p<0.05) than that of T4. Thenitrogen (N) retention was not affected by treatments. The weight gain and the positive N retentionsuggest that pigeon pea leaves could replace noug seed cake as a protein supplement to Rhodes grasshay basal diet for sheep.