Girawa (<i>Vernonia amygdalina) </i>as Supplemental Feed and Its Effects on Weight Gain and Carcass Parameter of Somali Goats Fed Khat (<i>Catha edulis)</i> Leftover

The experiment was conducted to determine body weight change, Average daily gain, carcass parameter and Analysis of Partial Budget of Somali goat fed khat leftover, supplemented with graded levels of dried vernonia amygdalina leaf. For this experiment, 24 yearling male goats with a mean initial body weight of 12.57± 0.59 kg (means ± SD) were used. The experimental goats were blocked into six blocks of four animals in randomized complete block design depending on initial body weight. The four treatments were assigned randomly to each goat within a block. The experimental goats were accessed a basal diet of khat leftover and supplemented with 100 (T1), 200 (T2), 300 (T3) and 400g (T4) Vernonia amygdalina leaf. The experiment was undertaken for Ninety days of feeding trial followed by carcass evaluation at the end of the experiment. The results of this study showed that level of supplementation significantly (p < 0.05) improved average daily weight gain, feed conversion efficiency and had better carcass characteristics. Hot carcass weight (HCW; 5 (T1), 6 (T2), 7 (T3) and 8.25 kg (T4) and dressing percentage on empty body weight basis; 43.29 (T1), 44.48 (T2), 50.34 (T3) and 55.18 (T4) was higher (p < 0.05) for T<sub>4</sub> compared to T<sub>1</sub>, T2 and T<sub>3</sub>. The lower level of supplementation recorded loss of 34 ETB/goat. Goats with higher level of supplementation (T<sub>4</sub>) had the highest net income (1626 ETB) as well as the highest marginal ret of (4.1 ETB).