Abstract
ABSTRACTThe study was conducted to evaluate the influence of partial replacement of concentrate with dried citrus pulp (DCP) on nutrient intake, digestibility, nitrogen metabolism, growth rate and economic efficiency in lambs. Citrus pulp was sun dried and chemical evaluation was conducted. Forty entire male Lohi lambs approximately 4–5 months of age were used in a randomized complete block design. On the basis of body weight, lambs were divided into 4 groups, 10 lambs in each group. The animals were fed 30% forages and 70% concentrate. The concentrate contained DCP10%, DCP20%, DCP30% or DCP40%. The experiment continued up to 120 days. A non-significant effect was observed on nutrient intake and digestibility by various levels of DCP. Nitrogen balance was also remained unaffected among the treatments. A non-significant effect was observed on average daily gain in lambs fed varying levels of DCP. A decreasing trend in price per kg of feed was observed as the level of DCP increased in the diet. These results indicated that DCP can be used successfully up to 40% of the concentrate in the diet of lambs without any adverse effect on feed intake and growth performance.
Highlights
A tremendous increase in the population of the world has elevated the demand of grains, increasing the competition between humans and animals for grains and other food sources, which has resulted in higher prices of concentrate
Analysis of dried citrus pulp (DCP) was carried out to evaluate the relative contents of dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF) and ash, which are good indicators for the determination of nutritive value
The results revealed that DCP contained 90.50%, 94.46% and 6.49% of DM, OM and CP, respectively, while metabolizable energy content was 3056 kcal/kg DM
Summary
A tremendous increase in the population of the world has elevated the demand of grains, increasing the competition between humans and animals for grains and other food sources, which has resulted in higher prices of concentrate. Citrus pulp consists of peels, inside residue and culled fruits (Mirzaei-Aghsaghali & Maheri-Sis 2008) It can be used as energy source to support growth performance in ruminants (Bampidis & Robinson 2006). Due to high transportation cost, perishability and seasonal availability, the use of citrus pulp on fresh basis is limited It can be conserved by drying (dehydration) or ensiling (Bueno et al 2002). It is a concentrate source (Arthington et al 2002) which contains 120–400 g sugar and less than 10 g starch per kg of dry matter (DM) (Hall 2000). The present study was planned to evaluate the effects of DCP as an alternate energy source on feed intake, growth performance, digestibility, nitrogen balance, feed efficiency and economics of feeding in lambs
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