Department of Animal Nutrition, College of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Navania Udaipur, Rajasthan University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences, Bikaner, Rajasthan, India
*Corresponding author: MK Meena; E-mail: mahendrameena631@gmail.com
Online Published on 19 July, 2023.
This experiment was conducted to assess the effect of feeding a herb (Allium sativum) and probiotic (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) alone or in combination with ground nut straw based complete feed on nutrient utilization efficiency in Sonadi sheep. A feeding trial was conducted for 90 days period followed by metabolism trial. Four complete diets were prepared as T1 (roughage + concentrate mixture), T2 (basal roughage + concentrate mixture + Allium sativum@ 3% of feed), T3 (basal roughage + concentrate mixture + probiotic (Saccharomyces cerevisiae @3 g/head/d) and T4 (basal roughage + concentrate mixture + Allium sativum @ 1.5% of feed + probiotic (Saccharomyces cerevisiae @1.5 g/head/d), using roughage and concentrate ratio 60:40. Sixteen Sonadi rams (10-12 month of age) were selected and randomly distributed in four groups of four rams each. In the study, highly significant (P<0.01) effect of groundnut straw based complete feed with garlic (Allium sativum) and probiotic (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) were found on average daily gain, digestibility of DM, OM, CP, EE, NFE, NDF and HC. Dry matter intake and organic matter intake were found non-significant in treatment groups. From present investigation, it can be concluded that using of herb (Allium sativum) and probiotic (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) alone or in combination with ground nut straw as feed additive had a beneficial effect on nutrient utilization efficiency in Sonadi rams.
• Groundnut straw based complete feed could be efficiently utilized in sheep feeding.
• Supplementation of garlic at 3% and yeast 1.5% level of feed as feed additives is a viable proposition to improve productivity.
Allium sativum, Digestibility, Ground nut straw, Probiotic, Saccharomyces cerevisiae
