Effect of feeding Leucaena pallida with concentrate and antihelmentic treatment on growth performance and nematode parasite infestation of Horro ewe lambs in Ethiopia

The study was conducted to investigate the effect of supplementing Leucaena pallida in reducing gastrointestinal parasite load and to evaluate growth response of Horro ewe lambs to supplementation and antihelmentic treatment. A total of 32 Horro ewe lambs were randomly assigned to four treatments: Grazing, grazing + antihelmintics only, grazing + 500 g dried Leucaena pallida leaves + 200 g ground maize grain per head/day, and grazing + 200 g noug cake + 200 g ground maize grain per head/day with eight replicates. Feeding L. pallida leaves increased (P < 0.05) growth rates and reduced (P < 0.05) nematode parasite egg counts (Eggs per gram of faeces (EPG)) compared with un-supplemented Horro ewe lambs. Packed cell volume (PCV) was significantly increased (P < 0.05) in Horro ewe lambs supplemented with L. pallida and concentrate and treated with antihelmentic compared to the animals assigned to grazing alone. The results revealed that supplementation of L. pallida with concentrate have beneficial anti-parasitic properties and improved the growth performance of Horro ewe lambs.