Abstract:
The experiment was conducted to determine different levels of EM-bokashi? and MEM solution inclusion in supplemental diets of Afar sheep on nutrient content of feeds, feed intake, digestibility, N retention, body-weight (BW) gain and mixed internal parasitic load at Debre Zeit Agricultural Research Center, Debre Zeit, Ethiopia. Twenty-five yearling male Afar sheep with a BW of 18.8 ? 1.6 kg (mean ? SD) were used in the study. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design. Five sheep were randomly assigned to each of the five dietary treatments that consisted of ad libitum tef straw + concentrate (300 gm/head/day) + no supplementation (T1), and supplementation of EM-bokashi? with 1% (T2), 3% (T3) and 5% (T4) on dry matter (DM) basis and 14% (T5) MEM solution. Higher contents of CP, NDF, ADF and ADL were observed in concentrate than EM-bokashi? with relatively equal contents in DM, Ash and OM. The mixed treatment diet having EM-bokashi? resulted higher CP, NDF, ADF, ADL and ash values than EM-bokashi? alone but exhibited less value in its OM content. Treatment feed having 1% EM-bokashi? showed higher DM, OM, ash, NDF and ADF than the rest but lower in its ADL content. The CP content of a mixture having 5% EM-bokashi? was higher (196 gm/kg DM) than the rest. Daily DM and CP intake increased (P<0.001) with inclusion of 14% MEM solution in the supplement diets, but it declined (P<0.05) at 5% of EM-bokashi? inclusion however daily LW gain was lower (P<0.05) in animals supplemented with the same diet compared to the other levels of poultry EM-bokashi? inclusion. Apparent digestibility coefficient of DM and CP at any percentage of EM-bokashi? and MEM solution inclusion was non significant (P>0.05) however significant nitrogen intake with corresponding nitrogen retention were higher (P<0.05) for treatment 5 with the lowest being for treatment 2.From the results of this study, it is concluded that EM? could be included preferably in its MEM solution form than bokashi at 14% or more in the ration of sheep.
