Deptartment of Veterinary. Biochemistry, College of Veterinary Science, Acharya N.G. Ranga Agricultural University, Rajendranagar, Hyderabad-500 030, India
Five complete diets were formulated with 1. no neem seed cake (NSC, control), 2. raw NSC, 3. water washed NSC, 4. urea treated NSC and 5. water washed + urea treated NSC and processed into mash and fed to 30 Nellore ram lambs (4–5 months, 6 in each group) for 6 months. The average daily gain was significantly (P<0.05) less on diets containing raw NSC and urea treated NSC. DMI was not significantly different among all the diets. However, DMI was less on NSC based diets. Digestibility coefficients of all the nutrients except EE were significantly (PO.05) higher on diet 5 containing water washed + urea treated NSC compared to other NSC based diets. Positive N, Ca and P balances were recorded on all the diets. DCP value was significantly (P<0.05) higher on diet 5 containing water washed+urea treated NSC. TON value was significantly (P<0.05) lower on diet 2 containing raw NSC. DM, DCP and TON intakes were less than recommended level on diet 2 containing raw NSC and diet 4 containing urea treated NSC.
Neem seed cake, complete diet, mash, lambs and growth
