Replacement of wheat bran with dried leftover food improves performance and carcass traits of grass hay-fed sheep

The high cost and limited availability of conventional feedstuffs need the exploration of sustainable and cost-effective alternatives. This study aimed to investigate the effects of wheat bran replacement with dried leftover food on feed intake, diet digestibility, growth performance, and carcass characteristics of lambs fed a basal diet of grass hay. Thirty growing Tigray Highland lambs were used in a randomized complete block design (RCBD) with iso-nitrogenous treatment diet into five groups where wheat bran was replaced with dried leftover food (DLF) as follows: 0% (T1), 34% (T2), 61% (T3), 82% (T4), and 100% (T5) on crude protein (CP) basis with six replicates. Data on feed intake (FI), digestibility, body weight gain (BWG), and carcass characteristics were recorded and subjected to analyses of variance (ANOVA) using the General Linear Model (GLM) procedure of SAS statistical tool. Leftover food had moderate CP (12%), high ash (6%), but less NDF (27%). Crude protein and energy values remained similar across dietary treatments as the level of leftover food increased in the diet while NDF decreased. Feed intake was significantly higher ( p < 0.05) in dried leftover food supplemented lambs (830–927 g DM/day) compared to the control lamb group (796 g DM/day). Likewise, supplementation with dried leftover food resulted in superior growth performance ( p < 0.05), with daily weight gains ranging from 86.01 to 110.55 g/day, exceeding the control group (67.78 g/day). Similarly, hot carcass weight, empty body weight, dressing percentage, rib eye muscle area, and total usable product were significantly ( p < 0.05) better with the DLF supplemented lambs compared to the control group. It is concluded that dried leftover food can replace wheat bran up to 60–100% to maintain or improve growth, body weight gain, and feed efficiency in sheep.