Body weight change of Abergelle breed and Abergelle crossbred goats fed hay supplemented with different level of concentrate mixture.

The experiment was conducted at Sekota District using 36 intact yearling males of pure Abergelle breed and Abergelle crossbred goats (50%) with a mean live weight of 18.92 ± 0.72 kg (mean ± SE). The objective of the experiment was to evaluate the effect of different levels of concentrate mixture supplementation on feed intake, live weight gain, and economic gain of the breeds. Goats were blocked based on initial body weight and were randomly assigned to the dietary treatments. The experimental design was a 2 × 3 factorial in RCBD (randomized complete block design). The treatments included ad libitum feeding of local grass hay and supplementation with three levels (184, 368, and 552 g/day) of concentrate mixture. The experiment consisted of 90 days of feeding. Daily, total dry matter and CP (crude protein) intakes were affected by diet and genotype (P < 0.01). Significant decrease (P < 0.001) in hay intake was observed as the level of the supplement increased. Besides, substitution rate increased with increasing levels of supplementation. Average daily body weight gains were significantly impacted only by diet. Animals fed on 184 significantly lower weights, while nonsignificant difference was observed in live weight gain between 368 and 552 supplemented group. Supplementation of 368 concentrate mix significantly improved (P < 0.05) feed intake, daily weight gain, and feed conversion efficiency. Supplementation of 368 g/day had showed significantly higher net return for both goat breeds. However, the Abergelle breed was significantly better in net profit and sensitivity than the crossbreed. Both genotypes performed better with the diet containing 368 g/day than that with 184 and 552 g/day of concentrate supplementation.