“Effects of supplementing varying levels of sapium ellipticum leaves with concentrate mix on nutrient utilization, growth performance and economic efficiency of Bos Taurus X Bos indicus bulls

Abstract

Smallholder cattle farmers in Ethiopia face inadequate feed supply in terms of quality and quantity as well as poor storage facilities. Dietary inclusion of the new potential feed resource such as Sapium ellipticum (Jumping - Seed Tree) would be a reliable substitute either as a sole feed or a multi-nutrient supplement in such fragile environments. The effects of supplementing varying levels of S. elipticum leaves with concentrate mix (CM) on nutrient utilization, growth performance and economic efficiency was studied in Bos indicus × Bos taurus bulls fed grass based diet. Twelve bulls with average initial live body weight of 118.11± 0.84 kg and 16.5 ± 2.12 (Mean+SEM) months of age were selected for 84 days fattening and 10 days of digestion trial. A randomized crossover design with 4 diets and 4 periods was used. The four dietary treatments included were hay + 400 g DM CM (T1), hay + 200 g S. elipticum + 400 g DM CM (T2), hay + 400g S. elipticum + 400 g DM CM (T3), and hay + 600g S. elipticum + 400 g DM (T4). The concentrate mix was made up of DM 947g/kg CM, ASH 100g/kg DM, CP 186g/kg DM, EE 50g/kg DM, NDF288g/kg DM ME17.11MJ/kg DM and ADF235g/kg DM. The smallest nutrient intake was observed in bulls feed T1; however, the highest feed intake was recorded for diet T4 (P<0.001). The difference between treatments and periods are highly significant (P<0.001). Average daily gain was 123, 207,251 and 334 g/day, respectively for T1, T2, T3 and T4 (P<0.001). Feed conversion efficiency ranged between 35 (T1) and 18 g ADG/g DM intake (T4) (P<0.001). Further, T4 was found to be the most profitable diet compared to other dietary treatments (P<0.001). A positive relationship observed between increasing graded levels of S. ellipticum with improved animal performance could indicate the potentiality of the plant to replace other protein and energy sources from concentrate mixes.