The Effect of Different Levels of Wild Reeds (Saccharum spontaneum) with Concentrated Fodder on the Productive Performance of Local Iraqi Lambs

Abstract

This experiment determined the best ratio of fortified and unsupported dried reed with urea in a concentrated feed mixture to maximize production and minimize cost. About 24 Iraqi lambs (17.27 ± 0.54) aged 3-4 months were used in this study, which lasted for 90 days in the farms of the Production Department of the College of Agriculture at the University of Tikrit from 9/19/2022 to 12/17/2022. Lambs were fed at 3% of body weight on diets of different content of wild reeds fortified and unfortified with urea mixed in the form of 8 mm pellets with concentrated fodder (black barley, wheat bran, yellow corn) and Which was divided into six treatments, the first three were without urea in the following ratios: 60 reeds:40 concentrate, 40 reeds: 60 concentrate and 50 reeds:50 concentrate. As for the second three treatments, they contained the same proportions as the first three treatments with 3% urea from the weight of roughage feed. There was a significant (p≤0.05) superiority in the average daily weight gain for the third and sixth treatments (147 and 143) gm/head/day, respectively. We conclude from the results of the experiment that providing a diet consisting of concentrated fodder and rough fodder from wild reeds in a ratio of 50:50 gives very good results in growth characteristics and feed conversion efficiency at a lower economic cost per kilogram produced.