Effect of replacing wheat bran with cactus pear meal on performance of sheep

A feeding trial was conducted with the objective of evaluating the effect of replacing wheat bran with cactus pear meal on feed intake, digestibility, growth performance and carcass characteristics of Tigray highland sheep fed a basal diet of mixed grass hay. Twenty uncastrated, growing male sheep (14.56 ± 1.54 kg) were used in a randomized complete block design with five treatments in four replications. Wheat bran was replaced with cactus pear meal at a ratio of 0% (T1), 25% (T2), 50% (T3), 75% (T4) and 100% (T5) on a dry matter basis. The data were analysed using SAS statistical tools. The result showed that there was no statistical difference in feed intake, body weight gain, feed conversion efficiency, digestibility or carcass characteristics among the dietary treatments (P > 0.05). However, crude protein intake was slightly higher in the control sheep group than that of the cactus-containing supplement groups (P < 0.05). Dressing percentage was affected by diet (P < 0.05), while the rib-eye muscle area did not show variation (P > 0.05). It is concluded that in situations where conventional feeds are neither readily available nor reasonably priced, cactus can be a good substitute for wheat bran as a source of energy for smallholder livestock production.