Feeding sorghum stover to Ethiopian goats and sheep: Effect of amount offered on growth, intake and selection

Abstract

Aboud et al (1990) found that intake and selection of sorghum stover (i.e. straw) by Ethiopian sheep increased as the ad libitum amounts offered (g/kg mass[M].day[d]) were increased from 25 to 50 and 75. The greater intakes resulted in improved growth rates. In view of the importance of goats in smallholder tropical-agriculture and the fact that goats are considered to be selective feeders, the present experiment compared the response of goats and sheep when offered increasing ad libitum quantities of sorghum stover. Sorghum (bird-resistant variety Seredo) was grown at Melkassa in the Rift Valley. Fourteen days after hand-harversting of grain in November 1988, stover was hand-cut and transported to the ILCA Station at Debre-Zeit. The stover was chopped (tractor-mounted Alvan Blanch Maxi Chaff Cutter) and stored for one month before feeding. Twenty four Galla bucks (11-13 months old) and twenty four Ethiopian Lowand rams (14-16 months old) were used in the 2 x 3 factorial experiment with 8 replicates.