Effects of substitution of fermented chicken litter with concentrate on nutrient digestibility and performance of sheep

Abstract

The study aimed to investigate the effects of supplementing fermented chicken litter on feed consumption, nutrient digestibility (dry matter/DM, organic matter/OM, crude fiber/CF, extract ether/EE, crude protein/CP), total digestible nutrients (TDN), and average daily gain (ADG) in sheep. A completely randomized design with 4 treatments and 3 replications, namely T0 = concentrate without the addition of fermented litter, T1 = 90% concentrate + 10% fermented litter, T2 = 80% concentrate + 20% fermented litter, T3 = 70% concentrate + 30% fermented litter and T4 = 60% concentrate + 40% fermented litter was used. The parameters studied were dry matter digestibility (DMD), organic matter digestibility (OMD), extract ether digestibility (EED), crude fiber digestibility (CFD), crude protein digestibility (CPD), TDN, feed consumption and average daily gain. The results revealed that sheep fed different levels of fermented litter did not affect OMD, DMD, EED, CPD, CFD, TDN, dry matter consumption, and average daily gain (ADG). It was concluded that fermented chicken litter can be incorporated in sheep diet, without considerable negative effects.