Effect of Supplementation of Concentrate on Performance of Crossbred Lambs in Kargil

A study was conducted to observe the effect of locally available feeds (wheat, barley, detoxified apricot (Prunus armeniaca) oil seed cake, field pea and wheat bran) based concentrate mixture on blood parameters, nutrient digestibility and growth performance of crossbred lambs under Kargil condition. Total 18 healthy crossbreds (Changthangi × local) male lambs of 9 months age were randomly divided into three groups of 6 lambs in each group. They were fed ad lib lucerne hay and barley straw (one third and two third, respectively) as basal diet in Group I, basal diet plus 200 g concentrate mixture in Group-II and basal diet plus 300 g concentrate mixture in Group-III for 120 days. Blood urea nitrogen was significantly (P<0.05) decreased in groups II and III than group I, though between groups II and III, no difference observed. Digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, crude protein and nitrogen free extract were higher (P<0.05) in groups II and III with lower crude fibre digestibility (P<0.05). Dry matter intake (g/d) was higher (P<0.01) in group II (787) and III (821) than group I (717) and DMI (% of BW) was also higher (P<0.05) in group II and III than group I. DCP intake was 75.2 g/d in group I, 86.7 g/d in group II and 89.5 g/d in group III, respectively. Total digestible nutrient intake in groups I, II and III was 521 g/d, 544 g/d and 556 g/d, respectively. Both DCP and TDN intake were significantly (P<0.01) higher in groups II and III. Weight gain in group I, II and III were 24.4 g/d, 46.2 g/d and 59.5 g/d, respectively. Thus, incorporation of locally available concentrate feeds to lambs ration improved the intake and weight gain significantly under Kargil condition over the traditional hay and straw feeding.