Effect of tannins and cellulase on growth performance, nutrients digestibility, blood profiles, intestinal morphology and carcass characteristics in Hu sheep.

OBJECTIVE

This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of tannins and cellulase on growth performance, nutrient digestibility, blood profiles, intestinal morphology and carcass characteristics in Hu sheep.

METHODS

A total of 48 three-month-old meat Hu sheep (25.05 ± 0.9 kg) were blocked based on body weight, and randomly allotted to 4 treatments with 3 replicates of 4 sheep each. The experiment lasted for 80 d, and dietary treatments were as follows: (1) CON, control diet; (2) TAN, CON + 0.1% tannins; (3) CEL, CON + 0.1% cellulase; (4) TAN+ CEL, CON + 0.1% tannins and 0.1% cellulase.

RESULTS

Compared with CON, CEL and TAN+CEL had greater (P<0.05) final birth weight (FBW) and average daily gain but lower (P<0.05) F/G, while FBW of TAN+CEL was lower (P<0.05) than that of CEL. The apparent total tract digestibility (ATTD) of DM in TAN, CEL and TAN+CEL groups were higher (P<0.05) than that in CON. CEL and TAN+CEL groups had greater (P<0.05) ATTD of CF compared with TAN and CON, while TAN group had lower (P<0.05) ATTD of CP than other treatments. TAN, CEL and TAN+CEL groups increased (P<0.05) serum globulin and alkaline phosphatase but decreased (P<0.05) A/G. Serum total protein was greatest for TAN+CEL, intermediate for TAN and CEL and least for CON (P<0.05). TAN+CEL group increased (P<0.05) dressing percentage compared with CON, while the backfat thickness of CEL was lower (P<0.05) than that of CON. The villus height of jejunum and ileum in CEL and TAN+CEL groups were greater (P<0.05) than that in CON, and the crypt depth and villus height: crypt depth of jejunum were increased (P<0.05) in TAN, CEL and TAN+CEL groups.

CONCLUSION

The addition of tannins and cellulase together promoted nutrient digestion, liver protein synthesis and intestinal development and thus improved growth performance and carcass characteristics.