Digestibility of Sheep Ration Containing Different Levels of Native Grass Hay and Concentrate Mixture of Wheat Bran and Dried Food Left over

The experiment was carried out at Mekelle University livestock farm, Tigray, Ethiopia. 12 male yearling Highland sheep with an average live weight of 20 + 2.5 kg (mean ± standard deviation) were used in the experiment. The objective of the study was to investigate the effect of digestibility of sheep ration containing different levels of roughage and concentrate mixture on performance of highland sheep. Food left over was collected from Mekelle University student cafeteria and dried with sun light for 3 - 4 days. The experimental design was a randomized complete Block design (RCBD) with four treatments and three replications. The experimental animals were grouped into three blocks based on their initial live body weight, which was determined by weighing after overnight fasting. The experiment was carried out for 15 days including 5 days of adaptation period and 3 days of adaptation and harnessing (fecal bags). At the end of the feeding trial, digestibility trial was carried out for seven consecutive days. There was significantly higher (P 0.05) total DM intake in the supplemented group than in the control treatment. Digestibility of DM and OM were non-significance (P > 0.05) for all treatments. Generally, the present study indicated that supplementation of Tigray highland rams with concentrate mixture had an effect on performance of sheep and the effects were relatively more pronounced on rams supplemented with the highest level of concentrate mixture.