Effect of replacing wheat-bran with cheka-residue as energy supplement on weight gain, nutrient digestibility and economic efficiency of Woyto-guji goats in Konso, Southern Ethiopia

The experiment was conducted on former Konso Woreda, now Konso Zone, Baide station. The aim of the study was to determine cheka-residue as an economic source of energy feed to replace wheat bran through evaluating its effect on weight gain and nutrient digestibility. Twenty intact yearling woyto-guji bucks selected from Baide CBBP association were divided in to five treatment groups each having four animal units. They were assigned to five experimental feeds [(Group-1/T1= Grazing + 1.8 L cheka-residue; Group-2/T2= Grazing + 0.6 L cheka-residue + 132 g wheat bran; Group-3/T3= Grazing + 1.2 L cheka-residue + 68 g wheat bran; Group-4/T4= Grazing + 200 g wheat bran; Group-5/T5= Grazing only) in a completely block design. Equal amount of noug-seed-cake (100 g/anl/day) was given to all treatment groups. The study comprised 90 days of feeding + 7 days digestibility trial. Supplementation after grazing tend to have increased (p<0.05) live weight and nutrient digestibility of experimental goats in current study. The average daily gain of goats maintained with T1 and T4 were significantly higher (p<0.05) than those of other treatments. Animals that received T1 and T4 had higher (p<0.05) total dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP) and crude fiber digestibility than in the remaining dietary treatments with T4 recording the highest value of 80.6% which was 12.81% higher than control. However, the two treatments (T1 and T4) were not different both in weight gain and nutrient digestibility reflecting that one can be used on place of the other. Besides, goats attained slaughter weight in a range of 29.9 to 31.8 kg as compared to 26.8 kg weight recorded for goats managed as control. Cheka-residue supplementation in current experiment provides more profit than others. Hence, it can be concluded that this by-product is a potential feed to replace wheat bran as it is very acceptable.