Effects of different levels of coconut oil supplementation on performance, digestibility, rumen fermentation and carcass traits of Malpura lambs

Positive consequences of maternal diet and post-natal rumen inoculation on rumen function and animal performance of Merino lambs

“…These results are in agreement with and augment the results from previous studies (Rasmussen and Harrison, 2011). On the other hand, the 7-8% decrease in DM intake after weaning resulting from the inclusion of 4% coconut oil in the diet was not expected (Jordan et al, 2006;Beauchemin et al, 2008) but it has been reported (Bhatt et al, 2011).…”

“…It has been previously reported that when the content of rumen-active lipids in the diet is low (<6-7%; Beauchemin et al, 2008), the inclusion of lipids in the diet does not affect the DM intake or DM digestibility and part of the results reported here support this. However, intake suppression at a lower percentage of lipids in the diet of lambs (Bhatt et al, 2011) and of heifers (Jordan et al, 2006) has also been found. In this study, when the energy requirements of the ewes were relatively low (late lactation), DM intake was affected by the type of lipid in the diet, being lower in the diet with coconut oil.…”

Effect of Bt-cottonseed meal feeding on performance, fermentation, ciliates population and microbial hydrolytic enzymes in lamb

“…These carcass traits are in agreement and are with in the normal range of variations reported for native lambs (Bhatt et al, 2011;Karim et al, 2007;Tripathi and Karim, 2011) on varying dietary regimens. The kidney fat was lower (p = 0.049) in control which increased by C-CM and Bt-CM diet fed lambs.…”

“…These are consistent with the observations of Singhal et al (2011), who observed increased milk production in crossbred cows fed daily 2.9 kg Bollgard II cottonseed meal. Nutrient utilization and animal performance did not change in the present study upon replacement of GNM by C-CM or Bt-CM in lamb diets, which were within the reported range of variations for native lambs in semi arid regions of India Tripathi and Karim, 2010;Bhatt et al, 2009Bhatt et al, , 2011. It has been recently reported that feeding of Bollgard II cottonseed did not have adverse effect on dairy cattle performance when compared with conventional cottonseed meal (Singhal et al, 2011), while, improved animal performance was reported (Solaiman et al, 2009) upon supplementation of whole cottonseed meal up to 300 g/ day, which accounted for 50% of total dry matter intake in Sidama goats.…”

“…Increased fat deposition was also reported in Sidama goats fed different levels of cottonseed meal (Solomon et al, 2008). Higher levels of dietary fat are reported (Bhatt et al, 2011) to favour fat deposition in essential organs in kid and lambs. Consistent to the present finding, goats (Bhuyan et al, 1996) and cattle (Zinn et al, 1997) were maintained at varying levels of dietary protein which had no effect on carcass traits and rib-eye muscle area.…”