Effect of Inclusion Rate of Effective Microbes (Em) On Growth Rate of Lambs Fed #Low Protein Diet by Deribe Gemiyo in BJSTR
Abstract
Background: A great majority of animal feed is roughage based
(poor in quality) in crop-livestock mixed farming system of southern
Ethiopia. EM is considered as one of the options that may improve poor
quality feeds dominant in the area. A study was conducted to determine
inclusion rate of effective microbes (EM mixed with wheat bran,
EM-bokashi) on growth rate of lambs fed low protein diets at Dubo Mante
research sub-station.
Method: Twenty four (24) post pubertal male sheep of similar age (about 12 months age) with an average weight of 14.1±1.74 kg were
purchased from local market. The lambs were assigned randomly to one of the four treatments (T1=0% EM, T2=1% EM, T3=3% EM, T4=5%
EM). Water and Rhodes (Chlorias gayana) hay were offered ad libtum.
Results: EM-bokashi supplemented at 5% resulted in
significantly (P < 0.05) higher intake and growth rate in terms of
weight gain than
those supplemented with 3% EM-bokashi. Likewise, lambs supplemented with
3% EM-bokashi showed significantly (P < 0.05) higher growth
rate than those supplemented with 1% while the difference between 1% and
the control (0%) is not significant. Similarly, lesser disease
occurrence was observed in lambs supplemented with EM-bokashi than
untreated animals. Supplementing 5% EM-bokashi added 51.2% and
43.6% additional economic incentives over the control and 1% EM level,
respectively. Generally, both weight gain and profitability increased as
level of EM supplementation advanced.
Conclusion: Additional weight in terms of daily weight gain
and profitability considered in this experiment are crucial in the
livelihood of
small-scale farmers. Hence, 5% EM-bokashi could be recommended as
biologically and economically profitable inclusion level for lambs fed
on
low protein diet under smallholder farmer’s management conditions.
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