Tropentag, September 17 - 19, 2014 in Prague, Czech Republic "Bridging the gap between increasing knowledge and decreasing resources"

Body Measurements of Desert Sheep Fed Urea Treated Groundnut Hulls and Molasses under Range Conditions

¹West Kordofan University, Animal Production, Sudan
²University of Khartoum, Meat Production, Sudan

Abstract

The study was conducted to evaluate the effect of feeding urea-treated groundnut hulls (silage) and molasses on body measurements of Hammari desert sheep lambs, at Elnuhood Desert Sheep Research Station, North Kordofan State, to meet the feed shortage during summer. The duration of the experiment was ninety days. Sixty desert sheep lambs (thirty males + thirty females) of 6 months age and 23.4 kg average live weight were divided into three equal groups (A, B and D). Groundnut hulls treated with 5 % urea was ensiled for 30 days. The lambs were fed a ration containing 77% silage and 23% molasses. Group A offered 400 g silage and 120 g molasses per day, group B offered 200 g silage and 60 g molasses per day and group C (the control) was left to graze the natural pasture freely. The effects of feeding management were determined. The results reveal that, the slaughter weights were not significantly different among the treatments, group A gave the highest weight (26.25 kg) followed by group B (23.69 kg) while group C, the control had the lowest weight (22.25 kg). The body measurements were not significantly different among the supplemented groups except the heart girth which was significantly higher in group A (68.9cm) compared with group B (67.1 cm) and the control, group C (67.4 cm). Height at wither, heart girth and body length were positively correlated with the body weight. The study concluded that urea-treated groundnut hulls (silage) and molasses can be used as feeding supplement for desert sheep lambs during summer under range conditions.

Keywords: Body measurements, desert lamb, grazing, groundnut silage, range

Contact Address: Abdelbagi Ahmed, West Kordofan University, Animal Production, University street, nct available Elnuhood, Sudan, e-mail: abdelbagibgmail.com