Effect of Sunflower acid oil Or its Calcium Soap Supplementation to Rations of Growing Lambs

The usefulness of sunflower acid oil or its calcium soap as a source of energy for growing lambs was studied. Chemical composition of sunflower acid oil showed the presence of a high proportion of free acids while, chemical characteristics revealed higher degree of unsaturation with oxidation and degradation of unsaturated fatty acids. Sixteen lambs (13.25±i.70 kg) of Nellore brown breed randomly divided into 4 equal groups were fed on a basal ration (T; 60 parts Brazilian Napier grass hay and 40 parts concentrate mixture), basal ration supplemented with sunflower acid oil @ 5 (T₂), 10 (T₃) or its calcium soap at 10 per cent (T₄) of dietary DM for 90 days. The average daily gain (ADG), dry matter intake (DMI)g/kgW^0.75/d and feed efflciency (FE) were signiflcantly lower (P<0.01) in lambs fed ration T₃ than those fed T₁, T₂, or T₃. There was a sllght improvement in ADG (62.2 Vs 50.0 g) and FE (9.1 Vs 11.1) in lambs fed ration supplemented with calcium soap (T4) over those fed basal ration (T₁). It is concluded that calcium soap prepared from sunflower acid oil may be used as an energy supplement up to 10 per cent of dietary DM for growing lambs fed roughage based ration while sunflower acid oil supplementation as such even at 5 per cent of dietary DM is not beneficial.