The effectiveness of the use of sorghum grain in feeding of farm animals and poultry

Abstract

Corn, wheat and barley remain important sources of nutrients and energy in the diets of farm animals and poultry. According to statistics in the feed factories are allocated up to 45 % to corn, about 35 % to wheat, 25,5 % to barley. In this regard, the task of more appropriate use of the abovementioned grains and the search for alternative feed sources has appeared. In the Volgograd region sorghum of the variety Kamyshinskoe 75 is successfully grown, which is not inferior to corn in nutritional value. The purpose of the work was to increase the productive traits of farm animals and poultry when using sorghum as part of diets. A series of experiments was carried out on sheep of Volgograd breed under the conditions of the IFof the farm Abdalvagapov M. A., young pigs of three-breed hybrids at the LLC “TOPAGRO” enterprise, broiler chickens of the cross Ross-308 in the SRC Effi ciency and Safety of feed and Feed additives of the Volgograd State Agrarian University. The animals and poultry of the control groups were received the main diet with corn, and in the diet of animals and poultry of the experimental groups a complete replacement of corn with sorghum was made. Sorghum compared with corn was characterized by a predominant content of crude protein by 1,74 abs.%, crude ash by 0,38 abs.% and nitrogen-free extractive substances by 0,12 abs.%. At the end of the studies on sheep (age 120 days) in the experimental group the live weight was 35,19 kg, which was higher than in the control by 2,83 % (P > 0,99). The live weight of young pigs at the end of the experiment was 129,95 kg or 2,66 % more than in the control group. Broiler chickens from the control group weighed 2198,36 g by the age of 35 days and by 0,9 % more then in the experimental group. Thus, the complete replacement of corn grain by sorghum in the diets of experimental animals and poultry had a positive eff ect on their growth rate.