Feed Intake and Diet Selection by Sheep on Rangeland at Two Phenological Stages in North Kordofan State, Sudan

North Kordofan is a leading State of Sudan in animal and range resources. Animal production is traditional and extensive, depending on natural rangeland. Sheep rank first in importance amounting to about 12.9 million heads. This study was conducted at El Demokeya Forest Reserve, North Kordofan State, Sudan at two range sites, protected and open. The objectives were to determinate feed intake and assess the plant species selected by sheep and development of preference indices for use in managing the rangeland

Diet Selection by Goats on Rangeland of North Kordofan State, Sudan

This study was conducted at El Demokeya forest, North Kordofan State, Sudan. The objective was to evaluate goat diet botanical composition as an indicator for pasture quality. Bite counts were obtained from seven goats in protected and open rangeland sites. Percent plant cover in the two range sites were 81.9% and 87.5% respectively. Density was 260.9 and 181.9 plants / m2 respectively (P \u3c 0.05). At flowering, goat diet contained 10.8% ± 1.12 and 11.8% ± 5.94 CP in protected and open sites respectively. At seed set CP% was 8.1 ± 1.32 and 8.2 ± 3.01 respectively (P \u3e 0.01). Diet CP% was higher in diet than in forage biomass vegetation. At flowering, in protected range Acacia senegal (26.6%), Echinocloa colonum (11.34%) and Zaleya pentandra (9.08%) were the browse, grasses and forbs most selected, respectively. In the open range site Acacia senegal was 22.58%, Eragrostis tremula 13.78% and Zaleya pentandra 11.05% of the diet. At seed set, in the protected range site, the diet contained 18.36% Justica kotschyi, 15.02% Acacia senegal and 4.28% Eragrostis tremula.While in open range site Eragrostis tremula was 52.92%, Acacia senegal 25.58% and Chrozophora brocchiana 1.62%. Grasses and forbs with highest relative preference indeces (RPI) at flowering in protected range site were Cenchrus biflorus (RPI=2.05) and Justica kotschyi (RPI=7.93). In open range site the grass and forb with highest RPI were Echinocloa colonum (RPI=1.17) and Zornia glochidiata (RPI=6.7) respectively. Diet botanical composition is an indicator of plant preference and is useful in selecting plants for reseeding of deteriorated range and in identifying key species for range management

The Effect of Chicken Manure on the Yield and Nutritive Value of Fodder Sorghum Sudanese Under Rain-fed Conditions

This experiment was conducted in the field of Faculty of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, University of Gadarif, in the autumn season in year (2014-2015). The aim of this experiment was to study the effect of fertilization by chicken manure in the production and nutritive value of fodder Sudan grass (Grawia) under rain-fed conditions. A completely randomized design was used, with three treatments and three replicates per treatment. Three levels of chicken manure namely, 0, 3.3 and 6.7 tons/ha were used. Parameters measured were dry and fresh yield, numbers of leaves/ plant, plant height (cm), diameter of the stem (cm) and the chemical analysis. The results revealed that as chicken manure increased the fresh and dry matter weight increased but the difference was not reach the significant level. The highest forage dry matter yield (1.83kg/m2) was recorded for the highest level of chicken manure applied (6.7tons/ha) compared to 0.67kg/m2 for the control. The highest forage fresh yield (4.53kg/m2) was recorded for the highest level of chicken manure applied (6.7 tons/ha) compared to 2.17kg/m2 for the control. There was no significance difference among treatments in the number of leaves/ plant and diameter of the stem but there was higher significance difference (P<0.001) in height of the plant. The chicken manure significantly affected Ash, CP, CF and NFE and there was no significant effect on DM and EE. Application of chicken manure significantly improved the nutritive value of Sudan grass by increasing the crude protein content