Effect of Replacing Rice Impurities Instead of Wheat Bran or Barley on Digestibility and Productive Performance of Awassi Lambs

Abstract

This experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of substitution three levels of rice impurities 0%, 50% and 100% instead of wheat bran or barley grains on digestibility and productive performance of Awassi lambs. In the morning, concentrated feed was given individually at 3% of live body weight as a dry matter basis for 56 days preceded by 14 days as an adaptation period. Roughage intake (wheat straw) was given ad-libitum (with residue) and recorded. Twenty-four male lambs aged 3-4 months with an initial weight 24.66 ± 2.81kg divided into six treatments with replacing rice impurities 0%, 50% and 100% instead of wheat bran (T1), T2, T3) or barley grains (T4, T5, T6) in a 2×3 factorial experiment/Completely Randomized Design. The results showed no significant differences in daily intake of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), soluble carbohydrates (NFE) and metabolizable energy (Me), and an increase (P < 0.05) in the intake of ether extract (EE), crude fiber (CF) (P < 0.01) and ash in T6 (100% rice impurities instead of barley), while daily gain and total gain increased significantly (P<0.05) for treatment T3 (100% rice impurities instead of wheat bran) 198.21g/day and 11.1kg in contrasted to others. feed efficiency and digestibility didn’t differ when replacing rice impurities. In conclusion: It’s possible to use rice impurities instead of barley grain or wheat bran to achieve low-priced feed ingredients with a higher weight gain and sustainable development.