Abstract:
The Objective of this study was to evaluate the eff ect of supplementation with Moringa stenopetala
leaf meal (MSLM), wheat bran (WB) and the mixture on feed intake, nutrient digestibility, and
body weight gain of Adilo sheep. A total of twenty fi ve, one year old, intact male adilo sheep
having initial body weights (BW) of 17.64 + 0.61kg (mean±SD) were used. Before starting the
experiment, sheep were adapted for 14 days. During this period, all animals were adapted with
treatment diets and treated against common diseases in the area. Sheep were blocked into 5
based on their initial BW then fi ve sheep were randomly assigned to one of the fi ve treatments.
The BW±SD of block 4, 1, 5 and 3 were 17.03 + 0.41, 17.25 + 0.33, 17.5 + 0.60, 17.7 + 0. 19 and
18.01 + 0.24 kg, respectively. The treatment feeds were adlibitum feeding of Rhodes grass hay
alone (T1) or with daily supplementation of 300g dry matter (DM) sole MSLM (T2), 2MSLM:1WB
mix (T3), 1MSLM:2WB mix (T4) and sole WB (T5). The data on nutrient content, feed intake,
body weight gain, and digestibility were analyzed using Proc Mixed procedure SAS (SAS Institute,
USA, version 9.4). The model included treatment as fi xed factor, while experimental animals
were included as a random factor. The crude protein content, total dry matter intake (DMI) and
apparent nutrient digestibility were lower (P<0.001) in sheep fed non-supplemented diet than the
supplemented diets. Among the supplement diets, a higher DMI (P<0.001) was observed in sheep
fed T2 compared to sheep fed with T3, T4, and T5 diets. The higher (P<05) apparent digestibility
of DM and CP in supplemented sheep could be attributed to the higher protein and lower fi ber
content of the supplement diets. Apart from this, sheep fed non-supplement diet lost weight by 7.8
g/head/day whereas, sheep fed diets supplemented with T2, T3, T4 and T5 gained 71.1, 51.5, 46.7
and 44.4 g/ head/day, respectively. Among the supplemented group, signifi cantly higher (P<0.001)
daily BW gain, fi nal BW and feed conversion effi ciency were recorded in sheep fed on T2 than T3,
T4 and T5. Hence, sheep producers can apply T2 to get better nutrient utilization, growth rate and
market weight.
