Abstract

This study was conducted to evaluate body weight gain, feed intake and digestibility of highland sheep supplemented with wheat bran and dried Acacia saligna leaf five treatments, namely grass hay as a control (T1), 100 g per day A. saligna, (T2), 200 g per day A. saligna  (T3), 300 g per day A. saligna (T4) and 400 g per day A. saligna (T5) with a fixed amount (200 g per day) of wheat bran was provided to the supplemented groups. Ram lambs in the control group gained 7.8 g/day while ram lambs placed under T2, T3, T4 and T5 gained 42.8, 63.9, 62.2 and 57.8 g/day. Thus, supplementation of 200 g/day dried A. saligna and 200 g/day wheat bran is biologically more efficient and economically more profitable and thus recommended for highland ram lambs fattening.

Key words: Acacia saligna, digestibility, grass hay, highland sheep, Mekelle Agricultural Research Centre, wheat bran.