Effect of Iraqi probiotic supplementation on body Weight Gain and some blood parmeters of Awassi Lambs fed different

Abstract

in this study, twenty four individual Awassi male lambs (mean body weight 17.05 kg and 3-4 months of old) were used to investigate the effect of three ratios of alfalfa hay to reed silage (40:0, 20: 20 and 0: 40 AH: RS ratios) fed with two levels of Iraqi probiotic (IP) (0 and 7.5 g IP / kg DM) on blood cholesterol concentration (BCC), blood urea nitrogen concentration (BUNC) and blood globulin concentration(BGC). The diets were formulated as DM to give a 40 parts alfalfa hay or/and reed silage and 60 parts concentrate. Within 2-3 days before end of the period trial, blood samples were taken during 0, 6, 12 and 24 hr. post morning feeding for measuring BCC, BUNC and BGC. No differences among treatments were found in daily feed intake for all nutrients. Different AH: RS ratios have no effect on live weight gain (LWG), BCC, BUNC and BGC. However, lambs fed diets supplemented with IP tended to increase in their LWG and significantly reduce BGC and BUNC (P<0.05 and P<0.01 respectively) as compared with those fed diets without IP. While, IP supplementation had no effect on BCC. In conclusion, during 0, 6, 12 and 24 hr. post morning feeding AH: RS ratios had no effect on BCC, BUNC and BGC. Inconclusion, IP supplementation was associated with higher LWG and lower BUN concentration.