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Desho (Pennisetum glaucifolium) grass is one of the indigenous cultivated multipurpose perennial forage crops grown for animal feed and soil conservation practices in Ethiopia. This study was conducted to evaluate desho grass varieties for their morphological characteristics, dry matter yield performance, and nutritive value in the central highlands of Ethiopia. The study was conducted at Holetta Agricultural Research Center during the main cropping seasons of 2013 - 2017 under rain fed conditions. Four varieties of desho grass, viz. Areka (DZF # 590), Kulumsa (DZF # 592), Kindu Kosha-1 (DZF # 591), and Kindu Kosha-2 (DZF # 589) were planted in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Though the plant height of desho grass varieties was not significant (P>0.05) at each production year and combined over years, it significantly differed among the production years. The number of nodes per plant and leaf to stem ratio varied significantly while the internode length was not significant among desho grass varieties. The combined over years analysis indicated that the leaf and stem dry matter yields varied significantly (P, Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Vol 8 No 1 (2023)

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of ensiled brewers spent grain (BSG) when used as replacement to cotton seed cake in the concentrate diet of lactating crossbred dairy cows. Eight early lactating F1 Boran X Friesian cows were used in a short term feeding trial to identify optimum level of ensiled BSG substitution of cotton seed cake (0, 33, 66, and 100%) in iso-nitrogenous diets. A 4 × 4 double Latin square design was used to analyze the data set generated from the feeding and digestibility trials. The results showed that as the level of ensiled BSG replacement to cotton seed cake increased, daily intakes on the natural pasture hay: 8.1 (T1) vs 7.6 (T2), 6.0 (T3), and 5.1 (T4); total feed dry matter: 14.6 (T1) vs 14.0 (T2), 12.9 (T3), and 12.2 (T4); crude protein (CP): 2.0 (T1) vs 1.9 (T2), 1.8 (T3), and 1.7 (T4); neutral detergent fiber (NDF): 8.4 (T1) vs 8.2 (T2), 7.4 (T3), and 6.8 (T4); and acid detergent fiber (ADF): 4.8 (T1) vs 4.5 (T2), 3.8 (T3), and 3.3 (T4) decreased (P 0.05). However, estimated metabolizable energy (EME) intakes (129 vs 126) and body weight of the animals (465 vs 467) on the control diet and dietary T2 (33% BSG replacement for cottonseed cake) were comparable (P 0.05). Thereafter, differences in daily EME intakes and body weight changes decreased with an increase in the level of ensiled BSG in the concentrate diet (P 0.05) compared with both the control and animals on T2. Ensiled BSG, on the other hand, substantially improved (P 0.05) total ration's apparent digestibility of dry matter (DM): 629 (T1) vs 659 (T3), 686 (T4); CP: 676(T1) vs 690(T3), 738(T4); NDF: 524 (T1) vs 544 (T3), 581 (T4); and ADF: 341 (T1) vs 350 (T2), 392 (T3), 440(T4) and daily milk yield: 14.5 (T1) vs 15.4 (T4) and milk production efficiency: 0.98 (T1) vs 1.11 (T3) and 1.26 (T4). So, ensiled BSG can be recommended to fully replace cotton seed cake from the concentrate diet of lactating dairy cows under local conditions. Additional research is needed to minimize and/or avoid body weight loss, milk fat, and total solids.

Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) is one of the most important perennial forage legume recommended for livestock feed due to its better yield and nutritional quality. So the introduced supersonic alfalfa variety was evaluated with the standard check variety (alfalfa-1086) at Holetta, Debre-Zeit, Kulumsa, Wondo-Genet, Werer, and Pawe locations aimed to assess forage biomass yield, chemical composition, and tolerance to major pests and diseases during the main cropping season of 2018 under supplementary irrigation. The result indicated that the introduced supersonic alfalfa variety gave a higher (P, Ethiopian Journal of Sciences and Sustainable Development, Vol 9 No 1 (2022): EJSSD

Shortage of feed is a critical problem for livestock production in Ethiopia. However, the selection of oat genotypes that perform better under vertisol conditions is very important to mitigate the feed shortage problem in the central highlands of Ethiopia. So, the study was designed to evaluate the agro-morphological and nutritional performance of fifteen oat genotypes under vertisol conditions during the main cropping seasons of 2015 and 2016 at Kuyu and Ginchi sub-stations of Holetta Agricultural Research Center. Randomized complete block design replicated three times was used for evaluating the genotypes. The genotypes were sown with the recommended seeding rate of 100 kg ha-1 using an inter-row spacing of 20 cm. Diammonium phosphate (DAP) fertilizer at the rate of 100 kg ha-1 was uniformly applied at sowing for all genotypes at both locations and years. Data were collected on plant height, dry matter yield, leaf to stem ratio, straw yield, seed yield, thousand seed weight, harvest index, and nutritive values. All measured data were subjected to analysis of variance using procedures of SAS general linear model. The genotypes responded differently (P, Journal of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences, Vol 6 No 2 (2021)

Background: Ethiopia has the highest livestock population in Africa. However, the productivity of livestock and the role it plays in the economy of the country is very low. This is mainly because of the inadequate availability of quality feed. Enhancing the production of alfalfa could contribute to overcome the shortage of feed in the country and enhance the productivity of all classes of livestock in the country. Objective: To evaluate performances of high-yielding and disease-tolerant alfalfa varieties. Materials and Methods: Six introduced alfalfa varieties were tested against a standard check (DZF-552) and an old introduction of alfalfa (hairy Peruvian) varieties for biomass yield, quality attributes, disease and pest reactions, and other agronomic traits at Holetta, Kulumsa, Debrezeit, Melkassa, Werer, and Pawe Agricultural Research Centers during the 2013 and 2014 cropping seasons. Three superior alfalfa varieties (alfalfa-1086, alfalfa-ML-99 and alfalfa-998) were selected from multi-location evaluation trials and the candidate varieties with recently released alfalfa variety (DZF-552) were evaluated under verification trial at Kulumsa, Melkassa, Werer, and Wondo-genet Agricultural Research Centers in 2015. Results: Alfalfa-1086, alfalfa-998, and alfalfa-ML-99 had dry matter (DM) yield advantages of 30, 27, and 23% over hairy Peruvian variety, respectively. Alfalfa-1086, alfalfa-ML-99 and alfalfa-998 also had crude protein (CP) yield advantages of 109, 89, and 73% over the hairy Peruvian variety, respectively. More importantly, alfalfa-1086, alfalfa-ML-99, and alfalfa-998 varieties had CP yield advantages of 55, 41, and 28%, respectively, over the recently released (DZF-552) check variety. The in vitro dry matter digestibility (IVDMD) yield advantages were 66% and 23% for alfalfa-1086; 58 and 17% for alfalfa-ML-99 and 57 and 16% for alfalfa-998 over the hairy Peruvian and recently released standard check variety, respectively. The results revealed that the candidate varieties had better ash, CP, and IVDMD but lower fiber contents when compared to the check varieties. Conclusions: The released varieties had advantages of CP and IVDMD yields over hairy Peruvian and standard check varieties. Moreover, the released varieties had advantages of leaf to stem ratio, CP content, and IVDMD over the two checks. Due to the better nutritional quality and yields of CP and IVDMD, the released varieties are very important to improve the livestock production and productivity of smallholder farmers. Therefore, the two alfalfa varieties (alfalfa-1086 and alfalfa-ML-99) were approved for cultivation in the low to high altitude areas of Ethiopia due to their better yield performance, quality attributes, disease and pest reactions, and other agronomic traits., East African Journal of Sciences, Vol. 15 No. 2 (2021): East African Journal of Sciences

The concentration of cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), arsenic (As) and chromium (Cr) in teff straw, water and milk were studied in East and West Shoa, Ethiopia. The concentration of heavy metals in feed, water and milk were investigated using Graphite Furnace Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. Heavy metals in teff straw in West and East Shoa were 1543.54 ± 318.70 μg/kg and 1486.92 ± 279.73 μg/kg, respectively and were found in the order of Cr > As > Pb > Cd. The concentration of heavy metals in water in East Shoa (28.08 ± 7.02 μg/L) was significantly higher (p As > Pb > Cd. Water samples obtained from Mojo Tannery had the highest level of heavy metals (86.89 μg/L) followed by Mojo Lake (67.89 μg/L) and a river near Mojo town (43.64 μg/L). Except for pH of water from Mojo Lake (10.4) and Gelan dye factory (8.9), the rest of water samples from East Shoa were found within the recommended pH limit of 6.5-8.5 for livestock drinking. Water samples from West Shoa had an average pH of 7.0 ranging 6.4–7.7 and were within the permitted limit. Water from Mojo had the highest concentration of Cr and the contamination level of heavy metals in water from East Shoa was in the order Mojo > Awash River > Gelan > Akaki > Bishoftu. The concentration of heavy metals in water from East Shoa was more than ten times higher than West Shoa. The concentration of heavy metals in livestock water in the study areas did not pass the standard limit. The overall concentrations of heavy metals in milk were in the order Cr > Cd > Pb > As. Compared to WHO/JECFA 1989 standards, the concentrations of Cd and As in milk were within the permitted limits, whereas the concentrations of Cr and Pb were found beyond the standard limit. It is concluded that the level of heavy metals near industrial areas were higher than those sites in non-industrial areas. It is recommended that further study is required on heavy metals content of soils, fodder feeds and livestock products in these study areas., East African Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Vol. 4 No. 2 (2020): East African Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences

A study was conducted at Fafen Livestock and Forage Research Station of Somali Region Pastoral and Agro-pastoral Research Institute, Ethiopia to determine forage mass, botanical composition and nutritive value of herbaceous vegetation of a range co-grazed by sheep, goats, cattle and camels. The area is located at an altitude of 1600 m and has an average rain fall of 660 mm. Grazing experiment was conducted on 6 ha of land co-grazed by sheep, goats, cattle and camels. Grazing lasted 16 weeks (November 2019 to February 2020) using 6 growing animals from each species. The range was dominated by species of grasses such as Chloris radiata, Eragrostis ciliaris and Panicum atrosanguineum; forbs such as Asystasia schimperi, Acanthospermum hispidum and Solanum somalensis; and browses such as Lantana camara and Acacia spp. Four enclosures (E) each 25 m2 were made to serve as control. Forage measures were performed from fives areas of grazing and the four enclosures at the start, middle and end of the grazing period. Botanical composition was assessed as the contribution of dominant grass (Chloris radiata), other grasses and forbs. The result of the study revealed that forage mass at the start (2085 vs 2001 kg/ha; SEM= 99.9) and middle (2352 vs 2115 kg/ha; SEM = 80.5) was similar (P > 0.05) between grazing and enclosure areas, while values for grazing area was lower (P < 0.05) at the end (1496 vs 1918 kg/ha; SEM=68.8) of the grazing period. Forage mass at the end of the grazing compared to the start was reduced by 28 and 3% for grazing and enclosure area, respectively. The contribution of Chloris radiata, other grasses and forbs for enclosure area were 44.2, 20.4 and 35.4%, respectively, with no impact of the grazing period (P > 0.05). For grazing area, the contribution of other grasses was unaffected (P > 0.05), while the percentage of forbs decreased by 37% (from 40.5 to 25.5%) and Chloris radiata increased by 31% (from 32.9 to 43.1%) at the end compared to the start (P < 0.05). The chemical composition of herbaceous forages did not differ much between grazing and enclosure area, reflecting less impact of co-grazing on nutritive value. The CP content (9.0, 6.2 and 4.5 % DM; SEM = 0.43) and IVDMD (58, 50, and 47%; SEM = 1.68 for start, middle and end, respectively) decreased (P < 0.05) with advance in grazing period; while the opposite trend was noted for fiber content of forages. The impact of co-grazing on biomass and chemical composition in this study appears to be of not high magnitude. However, the poor chemical composition of the range, coupled with selective feeding of forbs reflects the need for range improvement measures and/or supplementation strategies for improved livestock productivity., East African Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Vol. 4 No. 1 (2020): East African Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences

The objective of the experiment was to evaluate the effects of substitution of Camel’s foot tree (Piliostigma thonningii (PT)) leaf meal for concentrate mix (CM) on the performances of Gumuz sheep. During the 90 days feeding trial, thirty five yearling male Gumuz sheep with an average initial body weight of 20.21 ± 2.82 kg (mean ± SD) were grouped into seven blocks of five animals, and each animal was randomly assigned to one of the five dietary treatment feeds within a block. The dietary treatments included feeding of ad libitum finger millet straw supplemented with 100% CM (T1); 75% CM + 25% PT (T2); 50% CM + 50% PT (T3), 25% CM + 75% PT (T4) and 100% PT (T5) on dry matter (DM) basis. The supplements were offered at the rate of 300 g DM/day. The total DM and organic matter intakes for T1 were greater (P0.05) up to 50% PT leaf meal substitution level. Sheep fed T5 diet had the lowest (P 0.05) among treatments. An increase in proportion of PT leaf meal beyond 75% resulted in BW loss of 19.2 g/d. It was concluded that PT leaves could serve as alternative CP supplement in crop residue based feeding and substitution of concentrate with PT leaf meal beyond 50% had no beneficial role in sheep feeding., East African Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Vol. 3 No. 1 (2019): East African Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences

A cross-sectional single visit multi-purpose survey was conducted in Gondar, Mekele, and Tachi-Gayint to understand the suitability of hydroponic fodder technology to urban and peri-urban dairy farms. A total of 436 households who own at least one crossbred dairy cow were randomly selected and interviewed using semi-structured questioner. The study identified zero-grazing as the main feeding system practiced by large proportion of dairy owners. Conserved crop residue and hay were the main bulk feed available in both dry and rainy season followed by agro-industrial byproduct in dry season and green feed in rainy season. Feed shortage was the primary problem impacting dairy production. Purchasing feed, culling less productive animals, and feeding less or using alternative feed were the copping strategies employed for feed scarcity. Hydroponic fodder production practice was low (6.9%) due to lack of awareness, high cost of seed, and labor shortage. However, greater proportion (56.7%) of dairy cattle owners having experience of using hydroponic fodder witnessed that it improved milk production, calf growth, and animal’s body condition. Unlike urban respondents who have suspicion on the feasibility of the technology, large proportion (83.2%) of peri-urban consider production of hydroponic fodder as a good opportunity and ready to grow if the technology is cost effective and proven to increase milk production without affecting animal health. Although majority of the required facilities for hydroponic fodder production exists in the study area, seed cost and information on the effect of the fodder on productivity and health of animals limited its wider adoption and use. Hence, future research should focus on identifying cost effective technologies and knowledge on effect of feeding such fodder on animal productivity and health., East African Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Vol. 2 No. 2 (2018): East African Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences

አህፅሮትይህ የመስክ ጥናት የተካሄደው በ2008 ዓ.ም. ከኦሮሚያ ክልላዊ መንግስት በተመረጡ የሰበታና በደሌ ከተሞች እንዲሁም ከአማራ ክልላዊ መንግስት በተመረጠ የደብረ ብርሃን ከተማ ውስጥ ነበር፡፡ የጥናቱ ዓላዎች በተመረጡት ከተሞች ውስጥ የሚገኙ የቢራ ፋብሪካዎችን ወቅታዊ የተረፈ-ምርት መኖ አቅም እንዲሁም በየከተሞቹ የሚገኙ ወተት ከብት አርቢዎችን የተረፈ-ምርት መኖዎቹን አከመቻቸትና አጠቃቀም ለማወቅ ነው፡፡ በዋነኛነት በሀገራችን የሚገኙ ፋብካዎች የቢራ ገብስ ጭማቂ መኖንና እርሾን የሚያመርቱ ሲሆን በ2008 ዓ.ም. ብቻ ከ12 የተለያዩ ፋብሪካዎች 26722.8 ቶን የቢራ ገብስ ጭማቂ መኖ (በድርቆሽ ይዘት) እና 360758.1 ሄክቶ ሊትር አርሾ ማምረት ተችሏል፡፡ የመኖ አመጋገብን በተመለከተ በከተሞች መካከል የነበረው የመሰረታዊ መኖ፣ ድጎማ መኖ፣ የቢራ ገብስ ጭማቂ ተረፈ-ምርት መኖ፣ ጨው እና አጠቃላይ ጥቅል ዕለታዊ የመኖ አመጋገብ ልዩነት በጣም የጎላ ነበር፡፡ ጠቅለል ባለ መልኩ ሲታይ በሰበታ የሚገኙ ታላቢ ላሞች የመኖ ፍጆታ ከበደሌ እና ደ/ብርሃን ከተማ ከሚገኙት ላሞች ፍጆታ የላቀ መሆኑን ለማስተዋል ተችሏል፡፡ የቢራ ገብስ ጭማቂ በወተት ከብቶች የወተት ምርት፣ ጥራትና እንስሳት ጤና ላይ የሚያስከትለውን ለውጥ ለማወቅ በአርቢዎቹ ላይ በተደረገ ጥናት የተገኘ ግብረ-መልስ እዳመለከተው ከወተት ጥራት በስተቀር በከተሞቹ መካከል ምንም የጎላ የግብረ-መልስ ልዩነት እደሌለ ለመረዳት ተችሏል፡፡የቢራ ገብስ ጭማቂን ሳይበላሽ ለረዥም ጊዜ ለማቆየት በሚያስችሉ ተለምዷዊ ዘዴዎችን ለመለየት በተደረገ ጥናት በጨው መዘፍዘፍ፣ በፀሐይ ሙቀት ማረድረቅና በገፈራ መልክ ማከማቸት እንደ ቅደም-ተከተላቸው ጥቅም ላይ የዋሉ መሆናቸውን ለመለየት ተችሏል፡፡ አቅርቦትን በተመለከተ በሰበታ ከተማ የሚገኙ አርቢዎች በተነፃፃሪነት የተሻለ የቢራ ገብስ ጭማቂ ተረፈ-ምርት መኖ አቅርቦት ሲኖራቸው የአንድ ኩንታል ደረቅ ተረፈ-ምርት መኖ ዋጋ በተጠኑት ከተሞች በአማካይ 82.50 እንደሚሸጥ ለማውቅ ተችሏል፡፡ የጥናቱ ከተሞች በዓመታዊ የጥቅል ገቢና ወጪ ክፍያዎቻቸው የሚለያዩ ሲሆኑ የሰበታ ከብት አርቢ በዓመት ለአንዲት ታላቢ ዲቃላ የወተት ከብት ከሚያወጣው ወጪ አንፃር ሲታይ በጥቅሉ በበደሌና ደ/ብርሃን ከተሞች ከሚገኙ አርቢዎች የላቀ ትርፍ በዓመት ማግኘት እንደሚችል ለመረዳት ተችሏል፡፡ Abstract The study was conducted at Sebeta and Bedele towns in Oromia regional state and at Debre-Berhan town in Amhara regional state during October-January 2016/17. The objectives of the study were; to assess the current feed byproduct production potentials of the breweries, existing storage conditions and the status of brewery spent grain utilization by smallholder dairy farms in the study areas. The result showed that brewery spent grain (BSG) and Brewer’s spent yeast (BSY) are the commonly produced byproduct feeds across all beer factories in Ethiopia. There were 12 beer factories producing an estimated 26722.8 tons BSG (DM basis) and 360,758.1 hectoliter (hl) of BSY in 2016 G.C... Substantial differences (P0.05). There was however, great variations in farmers’ response towards long term effect of BSG feeding on milk compositional changes (P

አህፅሮትየሸንኮራ አገዳ ጫፍ በአገራችን በስኳር ፋብሪካዎች አከባቢና እና በአነስተኛ ሸንኮራ አገዳ አምራች ገበሬዎች ዘንድ የሚገኝ የእንስሳት መኖ ሀብት ነው፡፡ ይሁን እንጂ በሀገራችን እስካሁን የመኖ ጠቃሜታውን ለማሻሻልና በአያያዝ ጉድለት የሚመጣውን ብክነት ለመቀነስ የተካሄደ ጥናት በስፋት የለም። የዚህ ጥናት ዓላማም የርጥብ ሸንኮራ አገዳ ጫፍን ድርቆሽ በማዘጋጀት ሳይበላሽ ለረጅም ጊዜ ለማቆየት እንዲቻል ጥራቱን በተለያዩ የድርቆሽ አዘገጃጀት ዘዴዎች መፈተሽ ነው። ይህም በሳት የተቃጠለና (የተለበለበ) ያልተቃጠለ (ያልተለበለበ) የሸንኮራ አገዳ ጫፍን ሳይከረታተፍና ተከረታትፎ በፀሀይና በጥላ ሥር በማድረቅ ዘዴ የሚዘጋጀውን ድርቆሽ የንጥረ-ነገር ይዘት፣ የመፈጨት ደረጃውንና ለመድረቅ የሚፈጀውን ጊዜ ለመገምገም ነበር። የእያንዳንዱን አሰራር ዘዴ አምስት ጊዜ በመደጋገምና በተለያዩ ጊዜያት ናሙናዎች በመውሰድ አማካይ የድርቀት መጠናቸዉ 85 በመቶ ሲቃረብ በማቆም የናሙናዎች ኬየሚካለዊ ትንተና ተካሂደዋል። በተለበለቡና ባልተለበለቡ የሸንኮራ አገዳ ጫፍ መነሻ ናሙናዎች (fresh/original sugarcane tops) መካከል ያለው የመኖ ንጥረ-ነገር ይዘት ልዩነት የጎላ አልነበረም። ተከርትፈዉ በፀሀይ የደረቁት የሸንኮራ አገዳ ጫፍ ናሙናዎች ሦስት ቀናት ባልበለጠ ጊዜ የደረቁ ሲሆን፤ በአንፃሩ ያልተከረተፉት ናሙናዎች ለመድረቅ ከ45 እስከ 68 ቀናት ወስዶባቸዋል። በማድረቂያ ዘዴዎችና በሸንኮራ አገዳ ጫፍ ዓይነቶች መለየት ምክንያት በሚንራል(ash)፣ በቃጫ (NDF, ADL)፣በሟሚ ካርቦኃይድሬቶች (NFC)፣ በኃይል ሰጪ (ME)፣ በፎስፈረስ ይዘትና በተፈጭነት ደረጃ (digestibility) ልዩነት ማየት ተችሏል። የማድረቂያ ዘዴዎቹ መለያየት ከናሙናዎቹ ድርቀት(DM) እና ፕሮቲን ይዘት ዉጪ በሌሎች ንጥረ-ነገሮች ይዘቶች ላይ ልዩነት አልነበራቸዉም። በሌላ በኩል በፀሀይ የደረቀ ያልተከረተፈ-የተቃጠለ የሸንኮራ አገዳ ጫፍ ድርቆሽ የቃጫ(NDF) ይዘት አነስተኛና በፀሀይ ከደረቀው ያልተከረተፈ-ያልተቃጠለ ናሙና ልዩነት የለውም። በአንፃሩ የተከረተፉና በፀሐይ የደረቁ ናሙናዎች ሳይከረተፉ ከደረቁት ናሙናዎች በሟሚ ካርቦሀይድሬት፣ በቅባትና በሄማይሴሉለስ-ቃጫ ይዘት ከፍተኛ ሆነው በADF-ቃጫ ይዘት በእጅጉ ያነሱ ናቸዉ። በአጠቃላይ ከሸንኮራ አገዳ ጫፍ ድርቆሽ ለማዘጋጀት መከርተፍና በፀሀይ ማድረቅ የሚወስደዉን ጊዜ በእጅጉ ይቀንሳል፣ ብልሽትንና የንጥረ-ነገር ብክነትን በመቀነስ የመኖ ጠቀሜታውን ያጎላል። AbstractThis study was conducted to evaluate effects of different drying methods on chemical composition, in vitro digestibility and drying rate of sugarcane tops (SCT). Treatments were set in factorial arrangement (2 SCT types (green and burnt) x 3 drying methods (shed and sun drying of intact SCT and sun drying of chopped SCT) in a completely randomized design. Each treatment was replicated 5 times and samples were dried at a swath density of 4 kg/m2. Dry matter (DM) of samples was determined at time interval until the treatment average approached the safest content (≈ 85% DM) for storage. Fresh (samples at harvesting) and dried samples were chemically analyzed. The fresh burnt SCT had slightly higher DM, ash, EE, ADL, Ca, P, IVDMD, IVOMD and ME contents, but had lower CP and NFC contents than the fresh green SCT. The chopped burnt and green SCT dried at a rate of 19.8 and 20.7% per day, respectively. Rate of drying was highest in the 1st week for all drying methods, then after decreased progressively. The lowest dehydration rate (0.92 and 0.99% per day), or longest drying time (68 and 60 days) was attained by shed dried intact green and burnt SCT, respectively. There were significant interaction effects (P0.05) among the drying methods. However, ADF contents of sun- and shed dried intact SCT were not different (P>0.05), but were higher (P>0.05) than that of chopped sun-dried SCT. The sun-dried chopped SCT had higher (P0.05) in DM, OM digestibility and ME contents. The NFC content was inversely related to the fiber fraction, being lower (P

This study was conducted to assess farmers’ perception, production and utilization of improved forage (IF) under rural and peri-urban production systems of Adea-berga and Ejere districts of West Shewa and Welmera district of Oromia special Zone, central highlands of Ethiopia. A questionnaire based survey was conducted on 105 households (47 rural, 58 peri-urban) identified by purposive random sampling method. Fifteen non-users were also included to assess factors hindering IF utilization. The known commonly grown IF includes; oats, elephant grass, and vetch as reported by 95, 85 and 67% of the respondents, respectively. About 92% of the respondents produce their own IF while others either purchase or purchase and produce. About 91 % of respondents have medium and high level of perception score. Illiterateness and land holding significantly (p, East African Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Vol. 2 No. 1 (2018): East African Journal of Veterinary and Animal Sciences

This study assessed the nutritional qualities of major agro-industrial by-products (AIBPs) and locally available feed resources commonly used as supplementary feeds to dairy cattle in Ethiopia. A total of 58 samples belonging to five categories of supplementary feeds viz., compound dairy rations/concentrates, oilseed cakes, wheat bran, middling and grains, brewery by-products, and pulse grain by-products collected from different agro-industries located in and around Addis Ababa and local sources were included in the study. The feed samples were analyzed for chemical contents (DM, Ash, CP, NDF, ADF, Lignin, and in-vitro organic matter digestibility (IVOMD) at Holetta Agricultural Research Center Animal nutrition laboratory. Contents of the various nutritional parameters showed significant variations (pbrewery by-products>compound dairy ration>pulse grain by-products>cereal grain by-products (139.2g/kg DM). The mean NDF content varied in the order: brewery by-products (577.7g/kg DM)>pulse grain byproducts> compound dairy ration>oilseed cakes>cereal grain by-products (250.2g/kg DM). The average ADF content varied in the order: pulse grain by-products (327.8g/kg DM)>brewery by-products>oilseed cakes>compound dairy ration>cereal grain by-products (92.0g/kg DM). The average lignin content also varied in the order: oilseed cakes (79.5g/kg DM)>brewery by-products>pulse grain by-products>compound dairy ration>cereal grain by-products (20.9g/kg DM). The mean IVOMD varied in the order: cereal grain by-products (763.3g/kg DM)>compound dairy ration>oilseed cakes>brewery by-products>pulse grain by-products (537.5g/kg DM). It was generally observed that oilseed cakes and brewery byproducts had higher, while cereal grain by-products and pulse grain by-products had lower CP contents than the range (17-19%) recommended by NRC in the rations of lactating dairy cows during the early lactation stage. On the other hand, the average CP content recorded in compound dairy rations was comparable with the NRC recommendations in dairy cattle diets.

Tagasaste (Chamaecytisus palmensis) is one of productive multipurpose tree species grown in the tropical highlands of Ethiopia. Despite its potential role as a source of forage and natural resource conservation, adequate studies were not made on agronomic practices such as establishment, harvesting managements and utilization. The objectives of this study were to investigate the effect of establishment and subsequent harvesting managements on biomass (BM) yield, crude protein (CP) content, botanical fractions of total biomass and persistency of tagasaste. Establishment of tagasaste was undertaken for three consecutive years at Holeta Research Center (HRC) in the highlands of Ethiopia. The two harvesting management trials, harvesting stage and growing season were arranged separately in a randomized complete block design with three replications. In harvesting stage study, four treatments of harvesting stage including HS1 (3 harvests per year at 4 months interval), HS2 (2 harvests per year at 6 months interval), HS3 (one harvest at 8 months and the 2nd harvest after 4 months) and HS4 (one harvest at 10 months and the 2nd harvest after 2 months) were compared annually. In the growing season study, tagasaste was allowed to regrow for 6 months so that exposed to the main rain, dry and short rainy seasons of the area. Planting and harvesting year had a significant (P

This study was conducted to examine the effect of different levels of vetch hay (Vicia dasycarpa) supplementation on feed intake, milk yield and milk composition of 50:50 Boran-Freisian crossbred dairy cows fed a basal diet of napier grass (Penissetium purpureum). Five crossbred dairy cows at an early stage of lactation with average milk yield of 6 – 8 liters/cow/day and body weight of 390 ±15 kg (mean±STD) were arranged in a 5*5 latin square design. In the first 4 treatments, napier grass was fed ad libitum as basal diet, while in T5 (the control diet) native hay was the basal diet. In treatment 1, 2 and 3 vetch hay was supplemented at 20% (2.4 kg), 30% (3.6 kg) and 40% (4.8 kg) replacement of the total daily DM intake, respectively. In T4 and T5 concentrate mix (55% wheat bran, 43% noug seed cake (Gizotia abysinica) and 2% salt) was supplemented at the rate of 0.5 kg per liter of milk produced. Total dry matter intake differed among treatments in the order of T4>T3=T5>T2>T1. Milk yield was greater for concentrate supplemented treatments compared with the vetch supplemented ones, and was similar (P>0.05) among the different level of vetch supplemented groups. Milk fat and protein were not affected (P>0.05) by treatments. In general this study indicated that optimum milk production (8.81 liter/cow/day) can be obtained with the use of napier grass supplemented with 2.4 kg/cow/day vetch hay dry matter.

Twenty accessions of five vetch species were evaluated for agronomic and nutritional attributes at Holetta and Ginchi in the central highlands of Ethiopia during 2009 main cropping season. The experiment was conducted in randomized complete block design with three replications. Most measured parameters revealed significant P