Substitution of Concentrate Mixture with Dried Brewery Grains Improved biological and Economical Performance of 50% Dorper × Menz Crossbred Sheep

Abstract The experiment was conducted to evaluate the potential of dried brewer's grains (DBG) to replace concentrate mixture (CM) in growing 50% Dorper × Menz crossbred ram lambs fed native pasture hay as basal diet. The experiment was arranged in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with five treatments and seven replications, and initial body weight and age were used for blocking. Ram lamb from each block was randomly assigned to one of the five treatments. All sheep were fed native pasture hay (NPH) ad libtum at 20% refusal as a basal diet and supplemented with 400g CM (T1) or 300g DBG + 100 g CM (T2) or 200g DBG + 200g CM (T3) or 100g DBG + 300g CM (T4) or 400g DBG (T5). Natural pasture hay and total dry matter (TDM) intake were similar (P > 0.05) among the treatments, however, ME itntake was reduced (P < 0.0001) as CM was substituted with DBG. Substitution of 75, 50 and 100% of CM with DBG had greater (P < 0.001) body weight gain than 100% CM supplemented group, and substitution of 25% CM with DBG had an intermediate value. The partial budget analysis revealed that T3 and T5 gave greater net returns of Birr 881.19 and 854.91 per head, respectively. Based on MRR T3 is the best treatment and using this treatment a farmer can benefit ETB 8.94 for every 1 ETB investment. Hence, sole DBG or a mixture of DBG with a CM can be used for supplementation growing 50% Dorper crossbred ram lambs.