Indian Journal of Animal Nutrition

Eighteen adult Marwari rams (1.5–2 years age, 30.1 kg BW), randomly divided into two groups of nine each, were fed either sorghum sudan grass (Sorghum sudanensis) (SSG) hay alone or mixture of SSG hay with cow pea hay (Vigna unguiculata) in proportion of 87.2:12.8 (SSG+C) for a period of 42 days during autumn season. Cowpea hay contained nearly double the content of crude protein (22.38 vs 11.69%) than sorghum sudan grass hay and lignin (13.0 vs 6.7%), higher contents of ADF (54.0 vs 46.4%) but lower content of crude fibre (21.85 vs 26.78%) and NFE (32.56 vs 40.05%). Inclusion of cow pea hay did not influence live weight of animals during the period of study. DMI intake (3.56 vs 3.74% of BW); DCP intake (75.3 vs 98.1 g/d); nitrogen retention (6.7 vs 10.1 g/d; 0.50 vs 0.75 g/W^0.75kg, percent of intake (33.5 vs 42.4%) were increased (P<0.05) due to supplementation with cow pea hay. Intake and digestibility of organic nutrients were not affected due to diet. SSG hay contained 7.0% DCP and 55.4% TDN, while SSG+C contained 8.6% DCP and 52.8% TDN. It is concluded that the sorghum sudan grass hay was suitable for maintenance of adult sheep and may be used for feeding during scarcity period under hot arid conditions.