Effect of Supplementary Concentrate on Growth, Wool Yield and Quality in Fine Wool Sheep Singh N.P.*, Sankhyan S.K. Division of Animal Nutrition Central Sheep and Wool Research Institute Avikanagar-304 501, India. *Reprint request: Dr. N.P. Singh, Tel: +91-1437-20143; Fax: +91-1437-20163; E-mail: npsingh@cswri.raj.nic.in
Abstract An experiment was conducted to study the effects of providing supplementary concentrate at different levels to the crossbred weaner lambs grazing on Cenchrus ciliaris dominated pasture on their live weight gains, wool yield and its quality. Forty lambs of fine wool synthetic strain weaned at 75 days of age were divided into five uniform groups and grazed for 8 hours daily on a Cenchrus ciliaris dominated grass pasture up to 9 months of age. While the first group of lambs were supplemented with concentrate mixture ad libitum, the lambs of second, third and fourth groups were fed concentrate at 75, 50 and 25 per cent of the ad libitum intake. Further, no supplemental concentrate was given to the lambs of the fifth group. The average daily live weight gain of 67 g in the grazing group increased to 87, 104, 119 and 123 g with the increasing level of concentrate supplementation. The greasy wool yield of 615.5 g also improved by 40.1, 42.4, 97.8 and 102.3 per cent, respectively. While the staple length improved from 3.69 cm to 3.74, 4.44, 5.41 and 5.42 cm and fibre diameter though not desired, also increased from 23.22 to 24.23, 26.07, 26.10 and 27.61μ, respectively. It was concluded that the plane of nutrition significantly affect the live weight gains, wool yield and its quality, and supplementation at the level of 50 per cent of ad libitum concentrate was most appropriate to obtain optimum production from the crossbred lambs. Top Key words Lambs, Fine wool, Growth, Wool yield, Quality. Top |