Inclusion of Berberis vulgaris leaf in the diet of fattening lambs: Effects on performance, nutrient intake, rumen fermentation, and carcass traits.

Abstract

This study was aimed to first, determine the nutritional value of Berberis vulgaris leaf (BVL), using in-vitro gas production technique and second, determine the effect of replacing alfalfa hay (AH) with BVL in lamb diets on nutrient intake, performance, and carcass traits. In-vitro rumen gas kinetics and fermentation profile were assessed using three fistulated lambs and 96h incubation of samples. For the in-vivo trial, twenty-one Baluchi male lambs of 5-6 months of age and 30.6 ± 1.28kg body weight (BW) were randomly assigned to three treatment diets containing BVL at 0% (CTRL), 7.5% (BVL7.5), and 15% (BVL15) of the total dry matter (DM) inclusion. The study lasted 84 days, which included 14 days for adaption and 70 days for sample collection. In-vitro results showed that BVL had lower gas yield (GY24, p ≤ 0.05) than AH. In-vivo trial revealed that DMI increased with BVL15 followed by BVL7.5 (p ≤ 0.05). Digestibility of DM, OM, NDF, and ADL decreased (p ≤ 0.05) with BVL15. Total weight gain (TWG), average daily gain (ADG), hot carcass weight (HCW), and cold carcass weight (CCW) were decreased (p ≤ 0.05) with BVL15, however, no differences were observed between the BVL7.5 and CTRL groups. Feed cost per kg BW gain decrease (p ≤ 0.05) by increasing the inclusion levels of BVL. In conclusion, BVL (up to 7.5 % DM of diet) have positive consequences on performance, nutrient intake, rumen fermentation without deleterious effects on fattening performance.