Studies on the Effect of Supplementing Extra Energy to Poultry Litter Based Rations of Sheep

Five ration treatments were given to 5 adult rams in a 1 x. 5 x5 Latin square experiment completed in 5 periods of 22 dajs each. A scheduled quantity of concentrate mixture was supplied in the control treatment (T₁) whereas in the negative control treatment (T₂) 30% concentrate mixture was replaced with wheat straw. In the other 3 treatments 30% concentrate mixture was replaced by equivalent quantity of poultry litter (PL) without (T₃) or with extra supplementation of molasses at 8 (T₄) and 16 (T₅) percent level in the total concentrate moiety. DMI of sheep in treatments including PL was significantly (P< 0.01) higher than in T₁ or T₂. DM and OM digestibilities varied significantly (P<0.01), being lowest in T₂ and highest in T₄. CP digestibility was highest in T₁ followed by T₄ and lowest in T₅. The treatment differences in DCP and TDN intakes were highly significant (P<0.01). Though the treatment differences were non significant, the N retention was highest in T₁ followed by T₄. It was evident that PL can replace upto 30% of the concentrate mixture in ruminant rations when supplemented with 8% molasses. Higher levels of molasses tended to depress the utilization of nutrients.