Nutritional Evaluation of Sorghum Abu70 (Sorghum Bicolor) Forage and Bagasse Silage for Sheep

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of sorghum Abu 70 and sugar cane by-product (bagasse) silage with different combination percentage with or without concentrate diet supplementation on dry matter intake and digestibility by sheep. A total of twelve entire male desert sheep with body weight averaging 33.3±5 kg were used in this study. The diet was prepared with four combination of fresh cut sorghum Abu70: bagasse (A, 100:0; B, 75:25; C, 50:50 and D, 25:75). Molasses at rate 4% (w/w) was added to all mixture as stimulant. In experiment (1), silage was offered to sheep without supplementation. The daily dry matter intake were (A, 585.12; B, 658.8; C, 369.04 and D, 208.38 g respectively) .There was a decrease in dry matter intake which was significantly different (P < 0.05) as the inclusion rate of bagasse increased. The same is true for dry matter (DM) and organic matter (OM) digestibility of (A, B, C and D) were (61.36%, 67.77%; 45.38%, 51.5%; 23.23%, 30.6% and 19.12%, 14.34% respectively). Crude protein (CP) digestibility for silage A (Abu 70) was 47.9% while other treatment silages recorded negative values. In experiment (2), silages were offered freely and supplemented with 300 g concentrate mixture (2:1 Wheat bran and Groundnut cake). The results indicated that the average daily DM intake were not significantly different (P>0.05) the values were (1109.99, 589.97, 632.24 and 865.10g) for the vi groups fed (A, B, C and D respectively). The apparent digestibility (%) of 9 DM,OM and CP for silages A, B, C and D with 300 g mixture concentrate supplement were (70.06 ,73.13 and 91.45; 60.4 ,65.37 and 90.86; 46.47, 50.52 and 88.24 and 56.45, 58.89 and 88.94 respectively). There were significant (P<0.01) differences between treatment for digestibility (%) of DM and OM. As the inclusion rate of bagasse in silage increased, there was a drop in DM and OM digestibility. In experiment (3) where dry matter degradability study of the tested silages was carried using two fistulated bulls equipped with rumen cannula. The effective degradability (%) at (0.05 rumen out flow rate) of the tested silages of A, B, C and D were (62.7, 25.61, 28.86 and 20.43 respectively), silage (A) showed high dry matter degradation. Addition of different levels of bagasse to silages resulted in decreased dry matter degradability. It was concluded that feeding silage A, B, C and D as a sole diet decreased both daily dry matter intake and digestibility. Furthermore those silages were still below maintenance requirement of sheep which was evidenced by drop in body weight. Sorghum Abu70 and bagasse combination supplemented with 300 gm concentrate improved DM intake and digestibility by the sheep. However, CP digestibility was not affected (P>0.05) by the inclusion rate of bagasse. It could be concluded that bagasse could be included up to 25 % silage without any adverse effect on animal body perfo