Sciences de la volaille, de la pêche et de la faune
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Evaluating Production Performance of Tigray Highland Sheep Supplemented with Air Dried Foliages of African Wild Olive and Red Thorn: A Case Study of Carcass Production

Hagos Abraham, Mengistu Urge and Getachew Animut

An experiment was conducted at Wukro St. Mary Agricultural, Technical, Vocational Education and Training College to determine effect of feeding foliages from African wild olive and Red thorn on growth performance and carcass production of Tigray Highland sheep and to assess their economic benefits. Chemical composition and supplementation effect of foliages of these indigenous multipurpose tree species on growth performance of Tigray Highland sheep is available on line www.global academic research journals.org . Including air dried foliages of the multipurpose trees as protein supplement to grass hay improved carcass production. Supplemented sheep had significantly (P < 0.05) higher slaughter weight, empty body weight, hot carcass weight and dressing percentage on slaughter weight basis than the control treatment. It was economically feasible to poor smallholder sheep owners in the area, but supplementing T4 (mixed air dried foliages) was found as cost-effective with its high net income. The results obtained indicate that feeding foliages from the multipurpose trees alone or mixing at different proportions had potential as a protein supplement with less expense.