Study on Nutritional Quality of Major Beef Cattle Feed Resources in Selected Districts of Buno Bedele and Ilu Abbabor Zones, Western Ethiopia

Abstract

The present study was aimed with to evaluate nutritional quality of major beef cattle feed resources in selected districts of Buno Bedele and Ilu Abbabor zones. The feeds samples were collected during the dry season from January to March, and in wet season from July to August to evaluate the variation of nutritive values of feeds along with varied seasons. The various samples of feedstuffs collected were brought to Jimma University Animal Nutrition Laboratory for chemical analysis. SAS (Version 9.2) and ANOVA test were applied for analyzing the chemical composition and nutritive qualities of feedstuffs. As the study result indicated the chemical composition and nutritive values of major feed resources in the study areas were significantly different at (p<0.01) between feeds samples across the agro ecologies. The crude protein content was varied from 6.71% (teff) to 15.03 % (Desmodium). The neutral detergent fiber (NDF) content of different feeds were varied from 70.17% (Barley) to 63.85% (Pennisetum Clandustinum) and the acid detergent fiber (ADF) also varied from 44.78(brewery by-product) to 57.53% (barley) in similar species. Therefore, it was concluded that the Dry matter (DM), Metabolizable energy (ME) and Digestible crude protein (DCP) of the feeds sampled did not satisfy the maintenance requirements of livestock in the study areas. Hence, the fatteners should feed their animals based on body weight of the animals to hasten the finishing time.