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Mushunje LH, Marandure T, Chikwanha OC, Bennett J, Hawkins HJ, Palmer AR, Wu L, M C M, Mapiye C. Supplementation of Acacia dealbata versus Acacia mearnsii leaf-meal has potential to maintain growth performance of lambs grazing low-quality communal rangelands in South Africa. Trop Anim Health Prod 2024; 56:152. [PMID: 38722369 PMCID: PMC11082017 DOI: 10.1007/s11250-024-04004-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/21/2024] [Accepted: 04/23/2024] [Indexed: 05/12/2024]
Abstract
Supplementing livestock grazing communal rangelands with leaf-meals from Acacia trees, which are currently considered as problematic invasive alien plants globally, may be a sustainable way of exploiting their desirable nutritional and anthelmintic properties. The current study evaluated worm burdens and growth performance of lambs grazing low-quality communal rangelands supplemented with leaf-meals prepared from the invasive alien plant species; Acacia mearnsii or A. dealbata. Forty, three-month-old ewe lambs weighing an average of 18.9 ± 0.60 kg were randomly allocated to four supplementary diets: (1) rangeland hay only (control), (2) commercial protein supplement plus rangeland hay, (3) A. mearnsii leaf-meal plus rangeland hay and (4) A. dealbata leaf-meal plus rangeland hay. All the supplementary diets were formulated to meet the lambs' minimum maintenance requirements for protein. All the lambs were grazed on communal rangelands daily from 0800 to 1400 after which they were penned to allow them access to their respective supplementary diets until 08:00 the following morning. The respective supplementary diets were offered at the rate of 400 g ewe- 1 day- 1 for 60 days. Lambs fed the commercial protein supplement had the highest dry matter intake followed by those fed the Acacia leaf-meals and the control diet, respectively (P ≤ 0.05). Relative to the other supplementary diets, lambs fed the commercial protein supplement and A. dealbata leaf-meal had higher (P ≤ 0.05) final body weight and average daily gains. Dietary supplementation did not affect lamb faecal worm egg counts over the study period (P > 0.05). There was no association between supplementary diets and lamb FAMACHA© scores (P > 0.05). It was concluded that supplementation of Acacia dealbata versus Acacia mearnsii has the potential to emulate commercial protein in maintaining growth performance of lambs grazing communal rangelands in the dry season.
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Affiliation(s)
- L H Mushunje
- Department of Animal Sciences, Stellenbosch University, P. Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa
| | - T Marandure
- Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR), Coventry University, Wolston Lane, Ryton Gardens, Coventry, CV8 3LG, UK
- Department of Energy and Technology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Box 7032, Uppsala, SE-75007, Sweden
| | - O C Chikwanha
- Department of Animal Sciences, Stellenbosch University, P. Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa
| | - J Bennett
- Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR), Coventry University, Wolston Lane, Ryton Gardens, Coventry, CV8 3LG, UK
| | - H J Hawkins
- Conservation South Africa, Forrest House, Belmont Park, Rondebosch, 7700, South Africa
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X1, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa
| | - A R Palmer
- Institute for Water Research, Rhodes University, PO Box 94, Makhanda, 6140, South Africa
| | - L Wu
- Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China
| | - Marufu M C
- Department of Veterinary Tropical Diseases, Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, 0110, South Africa
| | - C Mapiye
- Department of Animal Sciences, Stellenbosch University, P. Bag X1, Matieland, 7602, South Africa.
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Impact of protein supply on the productive performance of growing lambs drinking natural saline water and fed low-quality forage under semi-arid conditions. Trop Anim Health Prod 2023; 55:59. [PMID: 36723688 PMCID: PMC9892080 DOI: 10.1007/s11250-023-03462-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/09/2022] [Accepted: 01/17/2023] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
Abstract
Consuming saline water causes animals salinity stress, which leads to many adapting metabolic changes that could negatively affect its performance and the quality of the derived products. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the impact of increasing diet protein level on the productive performance of growing lambs drinking natural saline water in Egyptian semi-arid region. Twenty-four growing Barki lambs (4-5 months old) with an initial body weight of 20.7 ± 0.25 kg were randomly distributed into four similar groups for 150 days. Two diets were formulated: low protein and high protein levels (concentrate feed mixture containing 14% and 20% crude protein (CP) on dry matter basis, respectively). Within each level of CP, natural saline water was represented by low saline (LS) and high saline (HS) water, containing 658 and 2100 mg/L of total dissolved solids, respectively. Results showed that the HS water increased (p = 0.02) water intake by about 18% and had adverse effect (p < 0.001) on dry matter intake, nutrient digestibility, and growth performance. The ruminal pH values, total volatile fatty acids, and ammonia-N concentrations were not affected by drinking the HS water. However, the protein supplementation enhanced the HS lambs' nutrients digestion and showed greater growth performance. The HS water decreased (p < 0.001) the serum concentrations of alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and increased (p = 0.03) the urea-N by about 9%. The protein supplementation amended the serum ALT and AST concentrations of HS lambs. It is concluded that the dietary protein supply was affective sustainable management strategy against the deleterious effect of drinking high saline water on growing lambs.
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Paiva P, Rebelo L, Gomes R, Zanchetin M, Baroni A, Godoy H, Pereira-Junior S, Del Valle T, Abreu J, Zervoudakis J, Cabral L, Galati R. Nitrogen utilization and nutrient intake and digestibility can be improved in sheep fed cotton-burrs with crude glycerin. Small Rumin Res 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.smallrumres.2022.106762] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
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Teshager D, Mekuriaw Y, Beyero N. Protein supplement potential of
Dodonaea angustifolia
leaves by replacing
atella
on nutrient utilization and performance of Farta sheep fed natural pasture hay basal diet. Vet Med Sci 2022; 8:2230-2240. [PMID: 35994299 PMCID: PMC9514476 DOI: 10.1002/vms3.898] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Protein feed resources for ruminant animal productions are deficit in Ethiopia. Objectives To evaluate the supplementation effects of dried Dodonaea angustifolia leaves (DDL), dried traditional brewery by‐product locally called atella and their mixtures on nutrient utilization and growth performance of Farta sheep fed natural pasture hay (NPH) as basal diet. Methods Twenty‐five yearling intact male Farta sheep with average initial body weight of 14.53 ± 1.35 kg (mean ± SD) were used for the study. The experimental sheep were allocated into five blocks of five animals based on their initial body weight. The experiment lasted for 90 days of feeding trial followed by 7 days of digestibility trial. The experimental feeds were NPH ad libitum + 100% DDL + 100 g wheat bran (WB; T1), NPH ad libitum + 75% DDL + 25% dried atella + 100 g WB(T2), NPH ad libitum + 50% DDL + 50% deried atella + 100 g WB (T3), NPH ad libitum + 25% DDL +75% dried atella +100 g WB (T4) and NPH ad libitum + 100% dried atella + 100 g WB (T5). Results NPH, DDL and dried atella contained 7.42, 15.39, 21.13% crude protein (CP) and 66, 36, 34% neutral detergent fiber, respectively. Sheep supplemented with increasing level of atella had more dry matter intake (DMI) and crude protein intake (CPI) and the highest of these DMI and CPI were in T5 (868 g/d for dry matter and 113 g/d for CP). This progressive increased CPI from T1 up to T5 was reflected in a significant (p < 0.001) fibers and estimated metabolizable energy intake in the order of T5 > T4 > T3 > T2 > T1. Significant difference (p < 0.001) was recorded on nutrient utilization and the highest was for T5 and lowest for T1. Average daily gain (ADG) and feed conversion efficiency (FCE) were significantly (p < 0.001) increased as the atella inclusion level increased. Sheep in T4 and T5 had the highest ADG and FCE with the order of T5 = T4 > T3 > T2 > T1. ADG was correlated positively and highly significant with nutrients intake and digestibility. Conclusion Atella supplementation better than DDL and then their mixture (T2–T4) supplementation could be recommended in sheep fattening in the study area.
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Affiliation(s)
- Defaru Teshager
- Department Animal Sciences College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Bahir Dar University Bahir Dar Ethiopia
| | - Yeshambel Mekuriaw
- Department Animal Sciences College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Bahir Dar University Bahir Dar Ethiopia
| | - Netsanet Beyero
- Department Animal Sciences College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences Bahir Dar University Bahir Dar Ethiopia
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Ata M, Obeidat BS. The impact of lamb diets containing either barley or corn on growth performance and carcass quality. Vet World 2021; 14:1487-1491. [PMID: 34316196 PMCID: PMC8304426 DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2021.1487-1491] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2021] [Accepted: 04/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND AIM Grains, such as barley (BAR) and corn (CORN), are major energy sources for small ruminants. This study aimed to assess the impact of feeding either BAR or CORN-based diets on growth performance and carcass characteristics. MATERIALS AND METHODS Awassi male lambs, average body weight of 20.4±0.49 kg, were chosen randomly. Lambs were acclimated for 10 days and assigned to one of two diets (1) BAR and (2) CORN. Feeding continued for 70 days with 60 days of data collection. Daily intake was recorded. Measurements of body weight were taken starting from day 1 then once per week throughout the study period. On day 40, six lambs were randomly chosen from each group and placed in metabolism cages to assess digestibility and N balance. Lambs were slaughtered on the last day of the study to evaluate carcass characteristics and meat quality. RESULTS Neutral and acid detergent fiber and ether extract intake were greater (p≤0.05) for lambs fed the BAR diets. Nitrogen loss in feces tended to be greater (p=0.09) for the CORN diet. Eye muscle depth (mm) tended to be greater (p=0.07) for the BAR diet. Nutrient digestibility, daily weight gain, carcass characteristics, and meat quality were not different (p≥0.1) between diets. CONCLUSION The results herein demonstrate that feeding BAR grain improved nutrient intake efficiency and consistency and did not affect weight gain and carcass traits. BAR-based diets might be a useful alternative to CORN for feeding growing lambs.
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Affiliation(s)
- M. Ata
- Department of Animal Production and Protection, Faculty of Agriculture, Jerash University, Jerash 26150, Jordan
| | - Belal S. Obeidat
- Department of Animal Production, Faculty of Agriculture, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid 22110, Jordan
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