Document Type : Research Paper
Authors
1 Agricultural Research, Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Animal Sciences Research Institute of Iran, Karaj. Iran.
2 Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization (AREEO), Tehran, Iran, Animal Science Research Institute of Iran
Abstract
This experiment aimed to investigate the effect of using barley fodder silage and triticale fodder silage compared to corn silage on fattening performance, blood metabolites, and nutrient digestibility in fattening lambs. For this purpose, Twenty-seven male Afshari lambs (3-4- months) with an initial body weight of 20.8 ± 1.7 kg were randomly divided into three equal groups (n = 9). Three isonitrogenous and isoenergetics diets were formulated based on corn silage, barley and triticale fodder silage, respectively. Each diet was randomly assigned to one of the experimental groups, and the animals were fed the diets for 84 days. The results showed that the daily weight gain of the experimental group fed a diet containing corn silage (239 gr) was significantly greater than that of the group fed a diet containing barley silage (167 gr; P<0.05). The highest amount of daily dry matter intake (DMI) was observed in the group fed a diet containing corn silage (1639 g) and the lowest amount was observed in the group fed the diet containing barley silage (868 gr; P<0.05). The feed conversion ratio (FCR) in the group fed the diet containing barley and triticale silage (5.8) was significantly better than the group fed the diet containing corn silage (6.9; P<0.05). In summary, it can be concluded that triticale fodder silage can be used as a substitute for corn silage in the diet of fattening male lambs.
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