Exploratory study of growth performance of Harar, Ogaden, Arsi, and Jersey × Horro crossbred bulls fed corn silage based finishing diet

Abstract

This exploratory study was conducted to determine the growth performance of bulls from Harar, Jersey×Horro crossbred, Arsi, and Ogaden cattle breeds fed a corn-silage based finishing diet. A total of 12 bulls, 3 from each breed, were used for the study. A completely randomized design (CRD) was implemented to assign experimental bulls in a breed factor arrangement of treatment. The results of the study revealed that the breed of cattle had a significant (p < 0.05) influence on final body weight, change in body weight, and average daily weight gain (ADG). The ADG was higher (p < 0.05) for Harar (0.65 kg/day) and Ogaden (0.63 kg/day) breeds compared to Jersey×Horro crossbred (0.49 kg/day), and Arsi (0.49 kg/day) breed. The body weight was significantly (p < 0.001) and accurately predicted from Heart girth (R² = 94.07%) and body length (R² = 82.50%). From the study, it was concluded that finishing young Ogaden and Harar breeds using corn silage and concentrate can improve growth performance and economic benefit and have attained the weight demand for the export market.

Keywords:

• Cattle breeds
• corn-silage
• cost-benefit
• growth performance

Reviewing Editor:

• Pedro González-Redondo
• University of Seville
• Spain

Subjects:

• Agriculture
• agriculture and food
• plant and animal ecology

Acknowledgements

The corresponding author wants to extend thanks to Ambo University for covering salary during the study period and some aspect of the research. All authors wish to thank the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) for financially support of the research work.

Authors contributions

CME: Proposal development, formal presentation, investigation, data collection and analysis, writing and editing; YYM, AAM, MYK, MTG, TGO: Investigation, data analysis, validation, supervision, writing, review and editing.

Disclosure statement

The authors declared that there is no conflict of interest between authors and organizations regarding this paper.

Data availability statement

Data will be available based upon reasonable request data policy.

Additional information

Funding

This research was financially supported by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Bureau for Food Security under [Agreement # AID-OAA-L-15-00003] as part of Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Livestock Systems for funding this research.

Notes on contributors

Chala Merera Erge

Chala Merera Erge graduated with a Master of Science in Animal Production from the Hawassa University, Ethiopia. He has extensive research and community service experience. He has also implemented national and international projects in collaboration with different scholars. Currently, he is a PhD student in Animal Production at Haramaya University, Ethiopia. His research interest focuses on animal production.