Background: In central Ethiopia, livestock production is constrained by limitation in the quality and quantity of feed. This study investigated the potential of Erythrina brucei leaf meal as an alternative protein source to noug seed cake in the diets of growing lambs
Objective: This study investigated the impact of the substitution on animals’ feed consumption, digestibility performance, growth rate, and carcass outcomes.
Methodology: Twenty Doyogena lambs (21.80± 0.02 kg initial weight) were used in randomized complete block design. Over a three-month period, lambs were fed a basal diet of desho grass hay and one of four concentrate mixture: T1 (157 g noug seed cake, control), T2 (92 g noug + 95 g of E. burucci), T3 (50 g noug + 155 g E. burucci), and T4 (223 g E. burucci Results and Discussion: No significant difference were observed among treatmentsfor the feed intake, nutrient digestibility, body weight gain (overall mean 53.2g/head/day), or carcass characteristics. The complete substitution with E. burcei leaf meal (T4) was found to be economically feasible.
Conclusion: Erythrina burucci leaf meal can effectively replace noug seed cake as a protein supplement in the diets of growing Doyogena lambs with adverse effect on performance, offering a viable and cost-effective alternative for farmers and feed processors in central Ethiopia.