The productivity of sheep in Ethiopia is very low mainly due to a serious shortage of feedstuff. As a result, it is necessary to look for cheap locally available feedstuffs to sustain sheep production in the country. Non-conventional feeds like grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the feeding value of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) grain for the replacement of soybean grain on the performance of SASSO x RIR crossbred chicks. A total of one hundred ninety five 21-day-old unsexed SASSO x RIR crossbred chicks were grouped into 15 pens of 13 chicks each, and randomly assigned to five treatments with a supplement of 100% soybean as control (T1), 75% soybean +25% cowpea in T2, 50% soybean +50% cowpea in T3, 25% soybean +75% cowpea in T4 and 100% cowpea supplement in T5 to the 30% of TMR. The results showed that the mean dry matter intake and dry matter conversion ratio did not vary (P>0.05) among the dietary treatments. However, significantly (P<0.05) inferior daily weight gain was obtained in chicks fed 100% cowpea supplement than the rest of dietary treatments. The CP intake was reduced (P<0.05) when the cowpea grain inclusion level is increased. Similarity in growth performance between chicks fed the control and a supplement of 25% soybean +75% cowpea was observed. Based on this, it could be concluded that soybean grain could be replaced by cowpea grain in chicks rations at the level of 75% without any adverse effect on growth performance of chicks so as to increase the economic efficiency.

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Next to crop production, rearing livestock in Ethiopia is essential for the community’s food and nutrition security. However, a major obstacle to global livestock production, particularly in Ethiopia, is a shortage of high-quality and sufficient livestock feed. Designing development plans and intervention options for both improving natural pasture and rearing livestock would require an evaluation of the natural pasture yield and nutritional composition. As a result, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the nutrient content and dry matter yield of natural pasture in the study areas. The study area was divided into highland, midland, and lowland agroecologies, and from each agroecology, protected and communal grazing areas were selected randomly. The results showed that the average dry matter yield, crude protein (CP), and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) of natural pasture varied across agroecologies and between grazing sites. The average dry matter yields of natural pasture in highland, midland, and lowland agroecologies were about 1.60, 3.02, and 1.96 t/ha, respectively. The average dry matter yield in protected and communal grazing areas of natural pasture was about 2.70 and 1.69 t/ha, respectively. The crude protein content of the natural pasture was 7.12, 7.63, and 6.90% in the highlands, midlands, and lowlands, respectively. The crude protein content of the natural pasture in protected and communal grazing areas was 6.69 and 7.73%, respectively. In general, the dry matter yield and crude protein contents of natural pasture were low, which would have an effect on livestock productivity, and the overall NDF content of natural pasture was 65.9%, which is classified as low-quality feed and thus would have an impact on feed intake, digestibility, and livestock productivity.

Background Animal feed shortage in quality and quantity, and escalating costs of agro‐industrial by‐products to supplement crop residues and natural pasture hay urged to look for alternative feed supplements. Vernonia amygdalina leaf is one of the potential feed resources to supplement poor quality feeds in ruminant feeding. Objectives This experiment was designed to evaluate effects of supplementing dried V. amygdalina leaves (DVL) and wheat bran (WB) mixture on feed intake, digestibility, body weight change and economic feasibility of Arsi–Bale sheep fed with natural pasture hay as basal diet. Methods Twenty intact yearling male sheep with an initial body weight (IBW) of 18.85 ± 0.95 kg (mean ± SD) were stratified into five blocks (four animals per block) based on their IBW and kept for 90 days of feeding and 10 days of digestibility trials. Four treatment diets comprised ad libitum hay (control, T1) and ad libitum hay plus daily supplementation of 300 g dry matter (DM) in a ratio of 2DVL:1WB (T2), 1DVL:1WB (T3) and 1DVL:2WB (T4), and the treatment feeds were randomly assigned to each animal within a block. Data were subjected to the analysis of variance using the GLM procedure of SAS (version 9.1). Results The results showed that the crude protein contents of hay, DVL and WB were 9.4%, 21.5% and 15.5%, respectively. Supplementation improved (p < 0.0001) DM intake (DMI), apparent nutrient digestibility, average daily gain (ADG) and economic return. Sheep supplemented with two parts of DVL and one part of WB resulted significantly (p<0.0001) the highest DMI, DM and nutrient digestibility and a better feed conversion ratio. Consequently, they resulted highest ADG and net return. Conclusions Sheep fed with a basal diet of natural pasture hay supplemented with two parts of DVL and one part of WB is economical to improve body weight of Arsi–Bale sheep.