نوع مقاله : مقاله پژوهشی
عنوان مقاله English
نویسندگان English
Introduction:
Barley grain is the main feed for lamb fattening in Iran; However, its rapid starch degradation in the rumen can lead to digestive problems, such as ruminal acidosis and bloat, which adversely affect livestock performance. To address this, corn grain is often used as an alternative because it has a slower degradation rate and reduces digestive problems. However, there is limited research on the effects of processing methods on the performance and degradability of corn and barley when fed at high‑level diets to fattening animals. Additionally, studies comparing the performance and economic efficiency of these grains in ruminants under Iranian conditions are scarce. This study aims to assess the effects of corn processing and high-level barley grain feeding on the performance and economic outcomes for Baluchi lambs in vivo.
Materials and Methods:
This study was conducted to evaluate and compare ruminal parameters, blood metabolites, and economic efficiency in fattening lambs fed high-concentrate diets based on corn and barley. A total of 20 male Baluchi lambs were randomly assigned to four experimental diets in a completely randomized design. The dietary groups consisted of similar forage proportions and concentrate mixtures containing: (1) whole corn, (2) wet corn, (3) ground corn, and (4) whole barley. The lambs were fed these completely mixed diets for 70 days, with a concentrate-to-forage ratio of 75:25 maintained across all groups.
Results and discussion:
The average daily weight gain did not differ significantly among the groups; however, lambs receiving the whole corn diet demonstrated the highest numerical average daily weight gain. In contrast, lambs fed the wet corn diet exhibited significantly lower feed intake, along with improved feed conversion ratio and feed efficiency, compared to the other dietary groups, especially whole barley and ground corn. The feed efficiency for the wet corn group was notably higher than that of the other groups. Furthermore, experimental diets did not significantly influence ruminal pH or ammonia nitrogen concentrations. There was also no significant effect of the diets on total volatile fatty acid concentrations, the acetate-to-propionate ratio, or individual concentrations of acetate, butyrate, isobutyrate, and isovalerate. However, the concentration of propionate was significantly elevated in the ground corn group. Blood parameters remained largely unaffected by dietary groups. The highest net income was recorded in the whole corn group, which showed no significant difference from the wet corn group. Additionally, the wet corn diet was associated with the highest economic efficiency and the lowest cost per unit of production when compared to the ground corn group.
Conclusion:
These findings suggest that incorporating wet corn into the diets of Baluchi lamb can be an effective strategy to improve animal performance and enhance economic returns under intensive fattening systems.
کلیدواژهها English
Authors retain the copyright.This is an open access article distributed under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0)
