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

Nasrullah1, M. Abdullah2, K. Javed2, J. A. Bhatti2, A. N. Khosa1, I. B. Marghazani1, J. Sales3, M. Fiaz4 and N. Ahmad2

1Faculty of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Lasbela University of Agriculture Water and Marine Sciences,
Uthal Balochistan; 2Department of Livestock Production, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences,
Lahore, Pakistan. 3Department of Animal Science and Food Processing, Faculty of Tropical Agri Sciences,
Czech University of Life Sciences, Prague, Czech Republic.
4Department of Livestock Production and Management, Pir Mehr Ali Shah Arid Agriculture University
Murree Road Shamsabad, Rawalpindi, Pakistan
Corresponding email: bangulzai74@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT

Nutrient intake and digestibility of berseem clover (Trifolium alexandrium), lucerne (Medicago Sativa) and oats (Avena sativa) as winter fodders were fed to female goats (n = 45, age = 720 days, body weight = 32 kg) and sheep (n = 45, age = 690 days, body weight = 32 kg).  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.  In addition, total tract apparent digestibility of DM, CP, NDF and ADF were measured for 5 days with 3 animals per treatment.  Intakes of NDF and GE were higher (P<0.05) with lucerne compared to berseem clover independent of animal species, and oats presented the lowest (P<0.05) CP intake compared to other fodders.  The highest (P<0.05) CP digestibility was obtained with feeding of lucerne, with NDF digestibility comparable among fodders within animal species.  With the exception of DM, intakes and digestibilities of nutrients were higher (P<0.05) in goats than in sheep.
Key words: Goats, sheep, winter fodders, nutrient intake, digestibility