Influence of replacement of groundnut cake with mustard cake on the wool quality of corriedale lambs

A study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of replacement of groundnut cake (GNC) with mustard oil cake (MOC) on the blood composition, wool yield and its quality in lambs. Twenty-four purebred Corriedale male lambs of 3–4 months age were randomly divided into four equal groups. The dietary treatments for the four groups consisted of iso-nitrogenous and iso-caloric concentrate mixtures in which GNC was replaced at 50 (M₁), 75 (M₂) and 100 (M₃) % levels by MOC. The lambs were fed weighed quantity of concentrate mixture and ad lib chopped oat hay, for 90 days. Feed intake, feed conversion ratio and daily gain did not differ significantly among dietary treatments. Wool yield and its quality was numerically better in lambs fed 50% GNC and 50% MOC. Staple length was 5.66, 6.37, 5.52 and 5.70 cm in groups, respectively. Scouring yield was highest (77.65%) in lambs fed equal proportion of GNC and MOC based concentrate mixtures. Haemoglobin levels were significantly (P<0.05) lower in MOC group (M₃) than GNC control (G₁) treatment whereas the other blood constituents did not differ among the groups. It was concluded that GNC, could be completely replaced by MOC without affecting the growth performances and feed intake of lambs. However, lambs fed equal proportion of GNC and MOC had better blood profile and wool quality.