Page 68 - Effects of dried citrus pulp on nutrient intake, nitrogen balance and growth performance in Lohi lambs

SUMMARY

This study was planned to examine the effects of dried citrus pulp as an alternate

energy source on feed intake, digestibility, nitrogen balance, growth performance, gain to
feed ratio and economics of lambs. Forty male lambs approximately 4-5 months of age

having 22-28 kg body weight were used in a randomized complete block design. Blocking

was done on the basis of body weight. The lambs were divided into 4 groups, 10 lambs in
each group. The diet was consisted of forage and concentrate. The concentrates contained

10, 20, 30 and 40% dried citrus pulp. The experiment was 75 days long. Animals were
dewormed against endo and ecto parasites before the start of study. First 21 days were given

as an adaptation period. Feed was offered ad libitum. Feed offered and refused was recorded
daily to determine feed intake. During collection period, three animals from each group

were shifted to separate metabolic pens to collect complete feces and urine for

determination of nutrients digestibility and nitrogen balance. Three animals randomly
selected from each group for blood collection. Serum from blood was extracted and

subjected to the analysis of blood urea nitrogen and blood glucose. The lambs were
individually weighed after every 15 days before morning feeding to determine weight gain.

Gain to feed ratio was determined by dividing weight gain over feed intake. Economics of
diets was calculated. Data thus collected was analyzed by Analysis of variance (ANOVA)

using general linear model procedure of SPSS and means was compared by Duncan’s

Multiple Range Test.

Analysis of dried citrus pulp was carried out to elucidate the relative contents of
DM, OM, nitrogen, NDF, ADF, hemicellulose and ash that are good indicator for the

determination of nutritive value. The results have revealed that dried citrus pulp contained
90.57, 94.60 and 6.56% DM, OM and CP, respectively. The NDF, ADF and ash contents

of dried citrus pulp were 20.68, 14.32 and 5.43%, respectively.

The level of DCP had non-significant effect on nutrient intake. DM intake was 1.27,
1.28, 1.29 and 1.30 kg/day in lambs fed 10, 20, 30 and 40% DCP in diet, respectively. The

OM intake was 1.17, 1.18, 1.20 and 1.20 kg/day in lambs fed LDCP, MDCP, HDCP and
VHDCP diets respectively. The lambs fed 10, 20, 30 and 40% DCP in their diet had 0.18,

0.18, 0.19 and 0.19 kg/day intake of CP respectively. There was non-significant effect of

62