Studies on the Effect of Supplementing Extra Energy to Poultry Litter Based Rations of Sheep

Five ration treatments were given to 5 adult rams in a 1 x. 5 x5 Latin square experiment completed in 5 periods of 22 dajs each. A scheduled quantity of concentrate mixture was supplied in the control treatment (T1) whereas in the negative control treatment (T2) 30% concentrate mixture was replaced with wheat straw. In the other 3 treatments 30% concentrate mixture was replaced by equivalent quantity of poultry litter (PL) without (T3) or with extra supplementation of molasses at 8 (T4) and 16 (T5) percent level in the total concentrate moiety. DMI of sheep in treatments including PL was significantly (P< 0.01) higher than in T1 or T2. DM and OM digestibilities varied significantly (P<0.01), being lowest in T2 and highest in T4. CP digestibility was highest in T1 followed by T4 and lowest in T5. The treatment differences in DCP and TDN intakes were highly significant (P<0.01). Though the treatment differences were non significant, the N retention was highest in T1 followed by T4. It was evident that PL can replace upto 30% of the concentrate mixture in ruminant rations when supplemented with 8% molasses. Higher levels of molasses tended to depress the utilization of nutrients.