Abate Dawit, Melaku Solomon
Sinana Agricultural Research Center, P.O. Box 208, Bale Robe, Ethiopia.
Trop Anim Health Prod. 2009 Apr;41(4):579-86. doi: 10.1007/s11250-008-9227-1. Epub 2008 Aug 31.
The study was conducted at Sinana Agricultural Research Center, Ethiopia to assess the supplementation of graded levels of vetch (Vicia dasycarpa 'lana') and lucerne (Medicago sativa,' Hunter river') hay on feed intake, digestibility and body weight (BW) change of Arsi-Bale sheep fed urea treated barley straw (UTBS). A 7 day- digestibility and a 90 day- feed intake trials were conducted using 28 and 35 sheep, respectively. The experimental design was a randomized complete block design with seven dietary treatments that consisted of feeding UTBS (T1) as the control treatment, UTBS plus 150, 250 and 350 g dry matter (DM) per day of vetch for T2, T3, T4, respectively and UTBS plus 150, 250 and 350 g DM per day of lucerne for T5, T6 and T7, respectively. Intake of UTBS was not affected (P > 0.05) by inclusion of lucerne hay at 25-35% of daily DM intake. The supplements increased daily intake of total DM, organic matter (OM), neutral detergent fiber (NDF), acid detergent fiber (ADF) and metabolizable energy (ME) (P < 0.001) as well as apparent digestibility of DM, OM (P < 0.001), NDF (P < 0.01), ADF, crude protein (CP) (P < 0.05) and daily BW gain (P < 0.001). Supplementation with lucerne than vetch hay promoted higher (P < 0.001) CP and ME intakes and daily BW gain. Feeding with the UTBS without supplementation was enough to meet the maintenance requirements of the sheep and allow small BW gain. The results of the study showed that urea treatment of barley straw in conjunction with supplementation of lucerne or vetch hay could serve as a useful strategy in improving smallholder sheep production in the tropics.
该研究在埃塞俄比亚的锡纳纳农业研究中心开展，旨在评估给饲喂尿素处理大麦秸秆（UTBS）的阿尔西-巴勒绵羊补饲不同水平的巢菜（野豌豆‘拉纳’）和苜蓿（紫花苜蓿‘亨特河’）干草对其采食量、消化率和体重（BW）变化的影响。分别使用28只和35只绵羊进行了为期7天的消化率试验和为期90天的采食量试验。试验设计为随机完全区组设计，有七种日粮处理，包括以饲喂UTBS（T1）作为对照处理，T2、T3、T4分别为UTBS加每天150、250和350克干物质（DM）的巢菜，T5、T6和T7分别为UTBS加每天150、250和350克DM的苜蓿。当苜蓿干草占每日DM摄入量的25 - 35%时，UTBS的采食量不受影响（P > 0.05）。补饲增加了总DM、有机物质（OM）、中性洗涤纤维（NDF）、酸性洗涤纤维（ADF）和代谢能（ME）的每日摄入量（P < 0.001），以及DM、OM（P < 0.001）、NDF（P < 0.01）、ADF、粗蛋白（CP）（P < 0.05）的表观消化率和每日体重增加（P < 0.001）。与巢菜干草相比，补饲苜蓿能促进更高（P < 0.001）的CP和ME摄入量以及每日体重增加。不补饲仅饲喂UTBS足以满足绵羊的维持需求并使体重有少量增加。研究结果表明，大麦秸秆的尿素处理结合苜蓿或巢菜干草的补饲可作为改善热带地区小农户养羊生产的有效策略。
