Nutrient intake and digestibility of various winter fodders fed to Beetal goats and Lohi sheep

Authors: Nasrullah, M. Abdullah, K. Javed, J. A. Bhatti, A. N. Khosa, I. B. Marghazani, J. Sales, M. Fiaz, N. Ahmad
Journal: Journal of Animal and Plant Sciences (JAPS)
ISSN: 1018-7081 (Print), 2309-8694 (Online)
Volume: 25  Issue: 4  Pages: 1206-1209
Year: 2015
DOI: NA
URL: https://doi.org/NA
Publisher: Pakistan Agricultural Scientists Forum

Abstract:
<p>Nutrient intake and digestibility of berseem clover (<em>Trifolium alexandrium</em>), lucerne (<em>Medicago Sativa</em>) and oats (<em>Avena sativa</em>) as winter fodders were fed to female goats (<em>n</em>&nbsp;= 45, age = 720 days, body weight = 32 kg) and sheep (<em>n</em> = 45, age = 690 days, body weight = 32 kg).&nbsp; Intakes of dry matter (DM), crude protein (CP), neutral detergent fibre (NDF), acid detergent fibre (ADF), and gross energy (GE) were determined over a 30-day period.&nbsp; In addition, total tract apparent digestibility of DM, CP, NDF and ADF were measured for 5 days with 3 animals per treatment.&nbsp; Intakes of NDF and GE were higher (P&lt;0.05) with lucerne compared to berseem clover independent of animal species, and oats presented the lowest (P&lt;0.05) CP intake compared to other fodders.&nbsp; The highest (P&lt;0.05) CP digestibility was obtained with feeding of lucerne, with NDF digestibility comparable among fodders within animal species.&nbsp; With the exception of DM, intakes and digestibilities of nutrients were higher (P&lt;0.05) in goats than in sheep.</p>

Keywords: Goats, sheep, winter fodders, nutrient intake, digestibility