NUTRIENTS INTAKE AND NUTRIENTS DIGESTIBILITY OF WEANER LAMBS AS AFFECTED BY INCORPORATION OF NON CONVENTIONAL INGREDIENTS IN TOTAL MIXED RATION

M.A. SHEKH¹*, SUBHASH PARNERKAR², P.M. LUNAGARIYA³, D.J. PARMAR^4
1Animal Nutrition Research Station, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Anand Agricultural University, Anand, 388001, Gujarat, India
²Animal Nutrition Research Station, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Anand Agricultural University, Anand, 388001, Gujarat, India
³Livestock Research Station, College of Veterinary Science and Animal Husbandry, Anand Agricultural University, Anand, 388001, Gujarat, India
⁴Department of Agricultural Statistics, B. A. College of Agriculture, Anand Agricultural University, Anand, 388001, Gujarat, India
* Corresponding Author : shekhmakbul@gmail.com

Received : 11-05-2018     Accepted : 21-05-2018     Published : 30-05-2018
Volume : 10     Issue : 10       Pages : 6047 - 6049
Int J Agr Sci 10.10 (2018):6047-6049

Keywords : Non- conventional, TMR, growth, digestibility, nutrient balance, Weaner lambs
Academic Editor : Dr Jitendra Kumar Chaudhary, Dr Parthasarathi Behera, Dr A.K. Pathak, Dr Gunjan Das, Dr G. Krishnan, Samanta Arup Kumar
Conflict of Interest : None declared
Acknowledgements/Funding : Author are thankful to Anand Agricultural University, Anand, 388001, Gujarat, India
Author Contribution : All author equally contributed

A study of 112 days on 18 weaned Patanwadi and Merino× Patanwadi healthy lambs of about 180 days of age were randomly distributed into three dietary treatments on body weight basis viz. T1: Total mixed ration (TMR-I) -Conventional group (65% concentrate and 35% urea treated wheat straw), T2 : TMR-II (Azolla-10%, P J Pods -25 %, Corn steep liquor -7 %, G N Cake-10 %, molasses- 10%, mineral mixture- 3% and urea treated wheat straw- 35 %) and T3:TMR-III (Azolla-20%, P J Pods -14 %, Corn steep liquor -15 %, molasses- 10%, vegetable oil- 3%, mineral mixture- 3% and urea treated wheat straw- 35 %). The TMRs were iso-nitrogenous. The daily gains in body weight were significant (P<0.05) amongst treatments and were in descending order of TMR I, II and III. The result indicated that the incorporation of Azolla 10% and more in the weaner ration significantly (P<0.05) reduced the growth rate. An increase in body length (cm) followed the same trend. An improvement in heart girth was similar in all treatments while gain in height at wither (cm) was found to be highest (P<0.05) in TMR-I (7.83±0.83) followed by TMR-II (5.72±0.43) and the lowest (P<0.05) height at wither (cm) in TMR-III (5.08±0.46). Nutrient intakes were to satisfy the requirement, whereas, digestibility (%) of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP) and ether extract (EE) were declined significantly (P<0.05) in lambs fed non conventional feed stuff containing total mixed rations except crude fibre (CF) digestibility which was statistically similar. Moreover, the lambs of all treatments showed positive nitrogen balance

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