Effect of corn straw leaves and pith on growth performance,nutrient apparent digestibility,serum biochemical indexes,and immune indexes of mutton sheep
The experiment was conducted to study the effect of corn stalk leaves and pith on the growth performance,nutrient apparent digestibility,and serum biochemical indexes of mutton sheep.Thirty healthy ewes weighing(30.0±3.0)kg were randomly divided into two groups according to the principle of similar body weight,with three replicates in each group and five ewes in each replicate.The sheep in the control group were fed a corn straw as the roughage,the sheep in the experimental group were fed corn stalk leaves and pith as the roughage,and the sheep in the experimental group and the control group were fed the same concentrate.The pre-trial period was 10 days and the formal trial period was 90 days.The results showed that compared with the control group,the average daily gain of the experimental group increased by 10.58%,the average daily dry matter intake increased by 1.01%,and the feed to gain ratio decreased by 8.66%.The apparent digestibility rates of dry matter,crude protein,crude fat,neutral detergent fiber,acid detergent fiber,calcium,and phosphorus in the experimental group were 6.52%,8.69%,9.43%,8.17%,8.43%,5.87%,and 6.51%higher than those in the control group,respectively.Compared with the control group,the total protein content,globulin content,and alkaline phosphatase activity in the serum of sheep in the experimental group increased by 3.41%,10.70%,and 12.42%,respectively,and the urea nitrogen content decreased by 5.00%.The concentrations of serum immunoglobulin A,immunoglobulin M,immunoglobulin G,complement C3,and complement C4 in the experimental group were 5.89%,7.90%,7.58%,6.95%,and 2.66%higher than those in the control group,respectively.The experiment indicates that compared with the whole corn stalk,corn stalk leaves and pith are a kind of high quality roughage for herbivorous livestock.
corn strawleaves and pithmutton sheepgrowth performanceserum biochemical indexes