Effects of Supplemented Acacia Seyal Pods of Tigray Highland Sheep

Acacia plants particularly Acacia seyal are widely spread in Ethiopia, particularly in Tigray Region Southern Zone. The farmers' uses these plant species for many purposes such as for fire wood, for construction purposes, for increasing the soil fertility and protect the soil from erosion and also used for shelter. However, no well organized study has been conducted on its nutritive value as a sole supplement and in mixture with concentrate feeds like wheat bran. Nevertheless, sheep were observed to consume the fallen leaves and pods of the browse species. Therefore, it is anticipated that supplementation of Acacia seyal pods alone or in mixture with wheat bran will bridge the gap in feed shortage during dry season and enable animals to maintain or slightly gain body weight (BW) in hay based feeding system.