Effect of adding Spirulina platensis algae to small ruminant rations on productive, reproductive traits and some blood components

Abstract

This experiment conducted using 20 Rahmani ewes at the last third of pregnancy in two equal groups. One group served as control, while the other group received Spirulina platensis (SP) at the rate of 0.5 gm 10 kg-1 live body weight. The objective was to find out the effect of adding Spirulina platensis algae to small ruminant rations on reproductive and productive traits and blood components of sheep. The experiments lasted for 120 days for both dams and their lambs after weaning. The findings proved that adding SP in ewes' diets had no effect on the average of live body weight change. Average milk yield was significantly (p <0.01) higher in the treatment group than the control. Lamb's birth weight and daily body gain of the treated group were significantly (p <0.01) higher than the control. Blood and serum picture profile of ewes were significantly higher when fed SP additive than the control. It could be concluded that the addition of SP to the ration of sheep positively preserved their health, productive and reproductive status as well as their lambs' growth rate. Also the additive improved the economic efficiency of treated animals by about 53.13%.

Influence of Spirulina platensis Supplementation Alone or Mixed with Live Yeast on Blood Constituents and Oxidative Status of Damascus Goats and their New Born

“…In this study, the average daily gain and weaning weight of borned kids of treated groups were not changed compared with kids born of control goats. These results are confirmed by Meale et al, (2014) in lambs (El-Deeb et al, 2022) in does' kids during 45 days of suckling period. These results can be explained by the litter size and kidding rate of goats (Table 4), which are the most important factors that have a significant effect on both average daily gain and weaning weight for goat kids during the suckling period (El-Raghi and Hashem 2022).…”

“…Spirulina platensis sp. is a filamentous, spiral-shaped cyanobacterium, formally classified as a blue-green microalgae (Gupta et al, 2008) as it has high biological value in proteins, vitamins, minerals, vital fatty acids, and a variety of active ingredients (El-Deeb et al, 2022). Spirulina supplementation improved animal health and oxidative status (Deng and Chow, 2010) In ruminants, live yeast such as (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) has been used to improve rumen fermentation, total VFA production, and stabilize rumen pH (Abbas et al, 2021), reduce heat stress (Guyot et al, 2005) and improve health status (Desnoyers et al, 2009).…”

Alternative Approaches to Feeding Small Ruminants and Their Potential Benefits

“…Macroalgae supplementation has emerged as a promising tool for reducing ruminant enteric methane emissions [ 65 ]. Furthermore, this additive increased the economic efficiency of treated animals by approximately 53.13% [ 66 ]. However, it is important to note that long-term oral exposure of animals to high concentrations of Bromoform (CHBr 3 ) can result in liver and intestinal tumors.…”

Leverage of Dietary Spirulina on Physiological Profiles of Black Iraqi Goats

“…The results of serum globulin in the fourth group are in agreement with Ouedraogo et al (2020) finding that the administration of Spirulina has caused a significant increase in globulin levels on day 28 of the study. El-Deeb et al (2023) concluded that Spirulina increased plasma globulin, and decreased liver enzyme activities as a result of the implementation of Spirulina in the diet of fattening lambs as an antioxidant to reduce the free radicals. Rahim et al (2021) revealed that Spirulina contains high amounts of minerals (Mg, Cu, Zn, Mn, Ca, Fe, K, P, and B) in different amounts.…”