Askar Ahmed R, Saber Ahmed R, Allam Sabbah, Kewan Khaled Z, Bakr Mohammed H, Fayed Faysal, Kandil Hamedi M, Ragab Samy Abo, Hussien Basma A, Ezz Samir S Abou El, Shoukry Mohsen M
Animal and Poultry Nutrition Department, Desert Research Center, Cairo, Egypt.
Animal Production Department, Faculty of Agriculture, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
BMC Vet Res. 2025 May 28;21(1):387. doi: 10.1186/s12917-025-04833-6.
In light of climate change, camels, as drought-resistant animal species, have become a crucial component of the pastoralists' economy, ecology, and culture. They exhibit an extraordinary capacity to adapt to harsh environments. Most camels rely on grazing on natural rangelands to meet their daily nutritional requirements. Climate and watering intervals influence the foraging behavior of camels, as well as forage quality and availability. This experiment investigated the effects of adding a concentrate supplement (CS) on camel performance, forage consumption and digestibility, and energy usage in arid-area rangelands during the dry season.
Eighteen dry and non-lactating she-dromedary camels, aged 8-10 years and weighing an average of 438 ± 5.7 kg, were employed in the experiment. Camels were randomly selected from a herd of 120 animals, individually marked for identification, and divided into three groups of six. The CS was administered separately before grazing at 0% (control), 50% (low), and 100% (high) of the metabolizable energy requirements for maintenance. The herd grazed daily from 08:00 to 18:00 in an area dominated by Ababasis articulate, a low-quality forage containing more than 70% neutral detergent fiber.
Adding a high CS level alleviated animal deterioration by reducing weight loss from - 1049 to - 192 g/day and significantly increasing dry and organic matter digestibility. A substantial drop in forage consumption, accompanied by a significant adverse effect on fiber digestibility (P < 0.01), was observed with CS addition. The Global Positioning System results revealed that the high CS addition considerably reduced (P < 0.01) the distance traveled from 25 to 13 km, leading to lower (P < 0.01) walking and grazing activity and higher (P < 0.01) standing and resting time. The results were consistent with energy expenditure data, reflected in a more incredible retained energy for high vs. low or control levels of the concentrate.
It is recommended that camels be confined and not allowed to graze, or they graze for a shorter period of time during drought seasons when palatable forage is scarce. Supplementary feeding is essential to maintain camels in arid-area rangelands. When CS is utilized, the interdependent effects on forage utilization must be considered. The CS should be used under restriction or replaced partially or completely with high-quality forage during the drought season.
鉴于气候变化，骆驼作为耐旱动物物种，已成为牧民经济、生态和文化的重要组成部分。它们展现出非凡的适应恶劣环境的能力。大多数骆驼依靠在天然牧场放牧来满足其日常营养需求。气候和饮水间隔会影响骆驼的觅食行为，以及草料质量和可获得性。本实验研究了在旱季向干旱地区牧场的骆驼添加精料补充料（CS）对其生产性能、草料消耗与消化率以及能量利用的影响。
选用18头8 - 10岁、平均体重438 ± 5.7千克的干奶期单峰母骆驼进行实验。骆驼从120头的畜群中随机选取，个体标记以便识别，并分为三组，每组6头。分别在放牧前按维持代谢能需求的0%（对照组）、50%（低水平）和100%（高水平）给予CS。畜群每天08:00至18:00在以多节阿巴巴斯草为主的区域放牧，这种低质量草料含有超过70%的中性洗涤纤维。
添加高水平CS可减轻动物体重下降，从每日 - 1049克降至 - 192克，缓解动物体况变差，并显著提高干物质和有机物消化率。添加CS后观察到草料消耗量大幅下降，同时对纤维消化率有显著不利影响（P < 0.01）。全球定位系统结果显示，添加高水平CS显著减少（P < 0.01）行走距离，从25千米降至13千米，导致行走和放牧活动减少（P < 0.01），站立和休息时间增加（P < 0.01）。结果与能量消耗数据一致，高水平精料补充料相比低水平或对照组精料补充料，能量留存更可观。
建议在干旱季节，当适口草料稀缺时，将骆驼圈养起来不让其放牧，或者缩短其放牧时间。在干旱地区牧场，补充饲喂对于维持骆驼生存至关重要。使用CS时，必须考虑其对草料利用的相互影响。在干旱季节，CS应限量使用，或部分或全部用高质量草料替代。
