Date press cake replaces corn grains in the diet of lactating Egyptian buffaloes and Barki rams.

Abstract

High prices of corn grains due to their shortage in some regions force researcher to explore nonconventional alternatives. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the effect of replacing corn grains at 25% (dry matter (DM) basis) with date press cake (DPC) without/with exogenous enzymes at 2 L/ton feed in diets of Barki sheep (24 rams divided as 6 rams/treatment) and Egyptian buffaloes (16 buffaloes divided as 4 buffalo/treatment). Each experiment was conducted under 4 treatments regime: control diet containing only corn grains, T1 diet where the control diet supplemented with exogenous enzyme, T2 diet where the control diet contained DPC on corn replacement (25% DM basis), and T3 diet where the control diet contained DPC on corn replacement (25% DM basis) along with exogenous enzyme supplement. The control diet contained concentrate feed mixture, corn silage, and rice straw at 50:40:10, respectively. Data on nutrient intake, digestibility, and nitrogen balance in sheep, as well as on blood parameters, milk production, and composition in buffaloes, were analyzed using the PROC GLM/MIXED procedure of SAS. The sheep under T2 and T3 treatments demonstrated greater digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, and neutral detergent fibers, along with improved nitrogen balance. The milk yield and its constituents were improved in the buffaloes under T3 treatment followed by those buffaloes under T2 and T1 treatments. This investigation could conclude that replacing corn grains with DPC at 25% (DM basis) in ruminant diets had beneficial effects on nutrients digestibility and milk yield along with its composition.