Effects of garlic straw on growth performance,nutrient apparent digestibility,serum biochemistry,and antioxidant capacity of Qingshan sheep
The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the effects of garlic straw on the serum biochemistry,antioxidant capacity,growth performance,and nutrient apparent digestibility of Qingshan sheep.Forty 5-month-old male Qingshan sheep were randomly divided into four groups,with 10 replicates per group and one sheep per replicate.The control group was fed with barley straw,and Group 1,Group 2,and Group 3 were fed with garlic straw instead of 10%,20%,and 30%barley straw,respectively.The pre-test period was seven days,and the formal test period was 30 days.The results showed that compared with the control group,the average daily gain of Group 1,Group 2 and Group 3 increased by 17.7%,29.7%,and 16.5%(P<0.05),and the feed to gain ratio of Group 2 decreased by 13.1%(P<0.05).The apparent digestibility of dry matter(DM),crude protein(CP),neutral detergent fiber(NDF),and acid detergent fiber(ADF)in Group 1,Group 2,and Group 3 increased significantly(P<0.05).The total protein content in serum of Group 1,Group 2,and Group 3 increased by 3.7%,4.1%,and 3.4%respectively(P<0.05),the albumin content increased by 6.5%,5.2%,and 2.3%(P<0.05),the globulin content increased by 4.1%,3.5%,and 3.0%(P<0.05),serum glucose content decreased by 7.6%,10.2%,and 6.4%(P<0.05),and the content of triglyceride decreased by 14.3%,23.8%,and 21.4%.The activities of superoxide dismutase(SOD),catalase(CAT),and total antioxidant capacity(T-AOC)in serum were significantly higher than those in control group(P<0.05),the activity of glutathione peroxidase(GSH-Px)in serum was significantly higher than those in control group and Group 1(P<0.05),and the serum malondialdehyde(MDA)in Group 1,Group 2,and Group 3 was significantly lower than those in control group(P<0.05).The study indicates that garlic straw has a good effect on feeding Qingshan sheep instead of part of barley straw,and the best effect is to replace 20%barley straw.