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Asian Journal of Animal and Veterinary Advances

Year: 2022 | Volume: 17 | Issue: 2 | Page No.: 53-60
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Authors

Sulafa M. H. Hassouna

Abdelrahim A. Mohammed

Abdelrahim A. Mohammed

Asim Abdel Razig. A. Lutfi

Abdelbasit B. Habib

Keywords

Background and Objective: Goats and sheep breed native to dry regions have developed strategies to use the utmost of the regulatory systems to cope with the harsh environment. Straw can be useful, in specific conditions such as shortage of good quality feed, for low producing animals, for maintenance or as special feed for high producing animals. The objective of the present experiment was to evaluate the effects of two types of roughages alfalfa hay (Medicago sativa) and sorghum straw (Sorghum vulgare), fed to Sudan desert sheep and Nubian goats, on some nutritional and physiological parameters related to animal performance. Materials and Methods: A digestibility-nitrogen balance experiment was conducted with six animals from each species with an average weight of 19±1.87 and 15.8±0.66 kg for sheep and goats, respectively. The animals were randomly assigned to dietary treatments (alfalfa hay or sorghum straw) with three animals per treatment following the completely randomized design in a 2×2 factorial arrangement. Results: Animal species resulted in a significant effect (p<0.01) in dry matter intake, rectal temperature and respiration rate. Feed quality induced a significant (p<0.01) increase in dry matter intake, water intake: Dry matter intake ratio, weight gain, urine volume and respiration rate with alfalfa hay than sorghum straw. Sheep had higher (p<0.01) digestibility coefficients and total digestible nutrients compared to goats. The digestibility coefficients of crude fibre increased (p<0.01) with sorghum straw. Nitrogen intake was affected significantly (p<0.01) by species×treatment interactions in sheep more than in goats. Alfalfa hay recorded a significant (p<0.01) increase in nitrogen intake and faecal and urinary nitrogen. Conclusion: It was concluded that the response of digestion of feed differs between sheep and goats, sheep are better utilized for both low and high-quality roughage. Alfalfa hay had a higher feed intake value than sorghum straw and sorghum straw had higher fibre digestion.
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