Assessment of different levels of enset (Ensete ventricosum) corm as an energy supplement in sheep fed a basal diet of Rhodes grass hay.

The objective of this experiment was to evaluate the effect of feeding different levels of enset corm as a supplement to sheep fed Rhodes grass hay. Thirty local yearling rams with a mean (±SD) body weight of 16.97 (±1.13) kg were used. Six sheep were allocated to each of the five treatments in a completely randomized design. The treatments were hay ad libitum and 129 g dry matter (DM) corm (T1), 188 g DM corm (T2), 248 g DM corm (T3), 100 g DM noug (T4) cake, and hay alone (T5). One hundred grams of noug seedcake was supplemented for all treatments except T5. Total DM and organic matter (OM) intakes of sheep in T1, T2, and T3 were the highest (P < 0.05) compared with sheep in other treatments, while sheep in T5 consumed the lowest DM and OM. The total crude protein (CP) intakes of sheep in T3 and T2 were greater (P < 0.05) than the other treatments, while sheep in T5 consumed the lowest CP. The apparent DM and OM digestibility coefficients of T1, T2, and T3 diets were higher (P < 0.05) compared with T5. The lowest (P < 0.05) CP digestibility was in T5, whereas the digestibility among the supplemented groups was similar (P > 0.05). The daily body weight gain for T1, T2, and T3 diets was greater (P < 0.05) than that of T5. The feed conversion efficiency for T1 and T2 was higher (P < 0.05) than T5, while T4 had an intermediate value. The highest (P < 0.05) nitrogen retention was in sheep fed T3 diet, while the lowest was in those fed T5. It is concluded that farmers can supplement enset corm at 129 g DM/day as an alternative energy source to improve the productivity of sheep for small-scale farmers under enset-livestock production systems.