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236555

PRODUCTIVE AND REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE OF BARKI EWES FED ON CASSAVA, ACACIA OR ATRIPLEX AS AN ALTERNATIVE OF BERSEEM HAY

Article

Last updated: 25 Dec 2024

Subjects

-

Tags

Sheep, goats and camels feeding.

Abstract

The comparative evaluation of different less-well researched forages will yield promising candidates to overcome the limitations of feed sources in most sub-tropic areas during drought. These resources may provide enough supply for animals' growth and milk production. Therefore, the main objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of using the viability of complete replacement of berseem hay in the diet of Barki ewes with cassava, or Acacia neloitca or Atriplex halimus leaves on ewes and their lambs' performance. For this berseem hay, “BH" in the diets of sheep was substituted with leaves of cassava, acacia or Atriplex. Forty late pregnant Barki ewes (43.2±1.1 Kg body weight) were divided into four groups in this evaluation trial. Animal groups fed either control diet (900 g concentrate feed mixture “CFM" + 600 g BH), or the tested diets, in which substituted BH with 600 g leaves of cassava, acacia, or Atriplex. Biweekly live body weight of ewes was recorded in the morning before feeding, while their lambs were weighed at the birthing then biweekly until weaning. Digestibility trials and nitrogen balance were implemented for the tested diets. Milk yield and its composition as well as blood analysis were also carried out. The economic efficiency was calculated for the experimental groups. Data of the studied parameters were statistically analyzed using the General Linear Model's procedures of SAS GLM (SAS, (2004). Cassava recorded the highest (P<0.05) values of most digestibility coefficients and feeding value parameters as well as dry matter intake and nitrogen balance. Both cassava and acacia were the best ones in maintaining the body weight and weight gain for both ewes and their lambs compared to the control and Atriplex groups. Milk yield was increased (P<0.01) in the cassava diet and milk protein, fat, ash, and solid not fat were increased (P<0.05) in the substituted forage diets compared with the control. Somatic cell count was almost similar in all tested groups. Cassava group had higher (P<0.05) serum total protein and the lowest A/G ratio, urea, and creatinine concentrations when compared to the control. Cassava increased (P<0.05) lambs weaning weights and daily weight gain compared to other treatments. It could be concluded that cassava, acacia and Atriplex are valuable alternatives to berseem hay in Barki ewe diets. Ewes fed cassava tended to have high body weight, milk yield and their lamb's daily gain compared with that fed acacia or Atriplex.

DOI

10.21608/ejnf.2022.236555

Keywords

Ewes, Cassava, acacia, Atriplex, digestibility, Blood, Milk

Authors

First Name

M.

Last Name

Eissa

MiddleName

M.

Affiliation

Sheep and Goat Research Department, Animal and Poultry Production Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.

Email

-

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

A.

Last Name

El-Wakeel

MiddleName

M.

Affiliation

Sheep and Goat Research Department, Animal and Poultry Production Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.

Email

-

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

E.

Last Name

Saber

MiddleName

A.

Affiliation

Sheep and Goat Research Department, Animal and Poultry Production Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.

Email

-

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

Fatma

Last Name

Saba

MiddleName

E.

Affiliation

Sheep and Goat Research Department, Animal and Poultry Production Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.

Email

-

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

A.

Last Name

Elnahas

MiddleName

-

Affiliation

Animal Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Sohag University, Sohag, Egypt

Email

-

City

-

Orcid

-

First Name

M.

Last Name

El-Deeb

MiddleName

M.

Affiliation

Animal Nutrition Research Department, Animal and Poultry Production Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Dokki, Giza, Egypt

Email

deep121eg@yahoo.com

City

-

Orcid

-

Volume

25

Article Issue

1

Related Issue

33730

Issue Date

2022-04-01

Receive Date

2022-02-09

Publish Date

2022-04-30

Page Start

29

Page End

43

Print ISSN

1110-6360

Link

https://ejnf.journals.ekb.eg/article_236555.html

Detail API

https://ejnf.journals.ekb.eg/service?article_code=236555

Order

3

Type

Original Article

Type Code

1,061

Publication Type

Journal

Publication Title

Egyptian Journal of Nutrition and Feeds

Publication Link

https://ejnf.journals.ekb.eg/

MainTitle

PRODUCTIVE AND REPRODUCTIVE PERFORMANCE OF BARKI EWES FED ON CASSAVA, ACACIA OR ATRIPLEX AS AN ALTERNATIVE OF BERSEEM HAY

Details

Type

Article

Created At

22 Jan 2023