2009•Indian Journal of Small Ruminants (The)Requires access
Comparative dietary evaluation of oats straw and tree leaves based complete feed in block and mash form in sheep.
Yasir Afzal, ABDUL MAJEED GANAI, F. A. Mattoo, F. I. Shad
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Abstract
A growth trial was conducted on 10 male Corriedale lambs (16.7±0.75 kg Body weight; 180–210 days old) for 90 days, into two equal groups. Lambs were fed a complete feed either in block or mash form for 90 days. The formulated complete feed has 60:40, R:C. Complete feed blocks were prepared in horizontal feed block making machine at 3000 psi. Dry matter and nutrient intake, and feed conversion efficiency did not change between block or mash fed group. Densification of complete feed did not reveal any effect on digestibility of dry matter and gross nutrients, nutritive value and retention of minerals. Daily live weight gain and nitrogen retention was higher (P<0.05) in block fed lambs by 47g/day or 32.2% and 3.0 or 24.0% respectively. Feeding complete feed blocks compared to mash feeding markedly reduced the cost of production. The results revealed that densification of feed into blocks improved daily live weight gain, efficiency of feed utilization and cost of production in hoggets.