EFFECTS OF SUPPLEMENTING CHOPPED EUPHORBIA TIRUCALLI TWIGS AND DRY ACACIA ALBIDA PODS ON CARCASS CHARACTERSTICS OF GOATS

The experiment was conducted to evaluate supplemental value of mixtures of different levels of Acacia albida pods (AAp) and Euphorbia tirucalli (EUt) on carcass characteristics using twenty-five intact Abergelle goats with initial body weight (IBW) of 13.9 ± 1.15 (mean ± SD). Randomized complete block design with 5 blocks were employed for the study. Treatments were native hay fed ad libtum alone (T1) or with 210 g/day AAp (T2), 210 g/day EUt (T5) or 140 AAp + 70 EUt g/day (T3) and 70 AAp +140 EUt g/day (T4). The experiment had 90 days feeding period for evaluation of carcass at the end. The CP content of AAp, EUt and hay was 17.8%, 7.4 % and 7.3 % respectively. Hot carcass yield and dressing percentage were higher for T2 than T1. Therefore, it is concluded that AAp supplementation has better impact on the carcass of the goats