Substitution of concentrate mixture with dried brewery spent grains improved biological and economical performance of 50% Dorper  × Menz crossbred sheep

AbstractThe study aimed to investigate the potential of dried brewery spent grains (DBG) to substitute concentrate mixture (CM) in a diet of growing 50% Dorper  × Menz crossbred ram lamb. Randomized complete block design (RCBD) was used for this study, and experimental animals were stratified into 7 blocks based on their initial body weight and age. Ram lambs from each block were randomly assigned to one of the five treatments. Native pasture hay (NPH ) was fed to all experimental animals as a basal diet (ad libtum at 20% refusal) and supplemented with 400  g CM (T1) or 300  g DBG + 100 g CM (T2) or 200  g DBG + 200 g CM (T3) or 100  g DBG + 300 g CM (T4) or 400  g DBG (T5). Natural pasture hay and total dry matter (TDM) intake were not affected (P >  0.05) by the inclusion of DBG in the CM; however, supplement intake was greater (P <  0.0001) for DBG than CM alone-supplemented group. Metabolizable energy intake was decreased (P <  0.0001) as CM was substituted with DBG, whereas apparent digestibility was comparable (P >  0.05) among treatments. The treatments with the substitution of 50%, 75%, and 100% of CM with DBG were superior (P <  0.001) in body weight gain to the 100% CM-supplemented group, and the substitution of 25% CM with DBG had an intermediate growth rate. The partial budget analysis revealed that the substitution of 50% and 100% CM with DBG gave greater net returns of Birr 881.19 and 854.91 per head, r...
Source: Tropical Animal Health and Production - Category: Veterinary Research Source Type: research