Assessment of Growth Performance of UDA Lambs FED Graded Levels of Supplemental Methionine and Lysine in a Semi-Arid Environment

Abstract

Two Different experiments were conducted to determine the effect of supplemental methionine and lysine on growth performance of Uda lambs. Animals with average live weight of 15-17 kg and less than five months of age were randomly allocated to three dietary treatments each containing graded levels methionine and lysine in a completely randomized experimental design (CRD). The animals were fed diets containing 0 (control), 2 and 4g/kg each of methionine and lysine in separate experiments. Results indicated significant differences (P<0.05) between treatment means for animals fed graded levels of methionine in terms of feed intake and live weight changes. Animals fed diets containing 2g/ kg methionine were better (P <0.05) compared to other treatments in growth performance. However, no significant difference (P > 0.05) was observed between animals fed diets containing graded lysine levels. It was concluded that supplementation of lysine has no impact on growth performance of Uda lambs with optimum methionine supplementation. It was recommended that 2g/kg methionine should be supplemented in the diets of growing Uda sheep.