Effect of feeding some West African browse foliages on growth and carcass composition in sheep.

The effect of feeding foliage from Afzelia africana, Pterocarpus erinaceus or Khaya senegalensis on growth performance was evaluated using 32 West African Djallonké rams of about 8 months of age and with a mean initial body weight (BW) of 16.1 kg. The animals were randomly assigned to four groups of 8 animals and the experiment lasted for 13 weeks. All the animals received the same amount of hay from Andropogon gayanus and maize bran (200 g/day each) and dried foliage ad libitum. The control group was fed cottonseed cake in restricted amounts. The animals were able to consume higher amounts of A. africana than of P. erinaceus and K. senegalensis. There was no significant difference in growth rate between sheep offered A. africana or P. erinaceus, 62.9 and 58.8 g/d, respectively, but sheep offered K. senegalensis had a lower average daily gain, 48 g/day (P < 0.05) due to lower consumption of both energy and crude protein. Animals in the control group had the highest growth rate, 95.8 g/day. Sheep offered P. erinaceus and K. senegalensis had similar carcass characteristics and dressing percentage but lower fasted BW, empty BW, carcass weight and dressing percentage (P < 0.05) than sheep offered A. africana. These tree species can provide valuable feed during periods of feed shortage in the humid and sub-humid zones.