Feeding value of sorghum stover fed to tropical hair sheep as complete rations in chop, mash, pellet, and block forms

Abstract

Background and Aim: Poor palatability, low bulk density, and low nutritive value restrict the utilization of the crop residues as animal feeds. Altering the physical characteristics of feed by blending the roughage and concentrates in the form of complete feed improves the nutrient use efficiency and reduces the feed wastage, feed cost, and labor cost. The study aims to determine suitable processing methods (mash, pellet, or block forms) for efficient utilization of sorghum stover-based complete rations vis-a-vis conventional feeding methods in sheep. Materials and Methods: The sorghum stover was incorporated in complete rations with roughage to concentrate ratio of 50:50 proportion in a growth trial of 120 days. The feed ingredients were chaffed, ground in a hammer mill, passed through expander-extruder, and compressed by feed block machine to prepare chop, mash, pellet, and block form of rations, respectively. Twenty-four male intact growing Nellore×Deccani cross lambs (3.5±0.5 months age, 14.50±0.41 kg (mean ± SD) at the start of the experiment) were divided into four experimental groups of six animals each in a complete randomized design. The experimental rations were randomly allotted to each group and evaluated for their intake, nutrient utilization, and growth performance. Results: The sheep fed on pellet-based ration consumed a higher (p<0.05) quantity of dry matter. The digestibility coefficients of organic matter, crude protein, and neutral detergent fiber were higher (p<0.05) in processed rations (mash, pellet, or block). Further, the nitrogen balance (g/d) was higher (p<0.05) in the mash, pellet, and block form of rations, compared to chopped ration. The processing method did not influence calcium or phosphorous balance parameters, except for their urinary losses, which showed an increasing trend (p=0.07). The ram lambs fed with pelleted ration showed higher (p<0.05) weight gain than mash, block, or chaff forms. The efficiency of feed utilization in gaining one kg body weight was higher (p<0.05) in lambs fed a pelleted diet. Feeding pelletized ration was more economical to gain one kg body weight. The bulk density was highest for block-based ration followed by pellet, mash, and conventional rations, and the carrying capacity of truck was highest with the least transport cost in block-form of rations. Conclusion: Physical processing (mash, pellet, and block) of sorghum stover-based complete rations increased the nutrient utilization and growth performance of sheep compared to conventional chopped form. Pelleting the mash with expander-extruder procedure was found to be more profitable. Nevertheless, the cost economics revealed blocks as more preferable forms for transporting the complete rations to larger distances.

Effect of Rearing System and Physical form of the Total Mixed Ration on Growth Performance of Local Male Lambs

“…The percentage of dry matter intake relative to body weight did not differ substantially between the loose and pelleted diets (3.3% and 3.01%), our results did not agree with [19], what he found to be the percentage of dry matter intake relative to body weight significant differences between the loose and pelleted diets. The pelleted diet produced 1 kilogram of weight gain at a significantly lower cost (4,238 Iraqi dinars) than the loose diet (5,557 Iraqi dinars), this result agrees with [21] while [19], no significant difference was observed in the cost of producing 1 kg of weight gain between the loose and pelleted diets. The interaction between the rearing system and the physical form of the complete mixed ration revealed that the individual rearingpelleted form consumed significantly more feed per day (1,302 g/day) than the group rearing -pelleted form (1078 g/day) and the group rearing -loose form (1,108 g/day), but did not differ significantly from the overlap of the individual rearing -loose form (1,156 g/day).There were no significant differences in dry matter consumption across all interventions.…”

“…The process of compressing feed into pellet reduces the feed's volume and increases its density, resulting in a decrease in the rumen full and a subsequent increase in the amount of voluntary feed intake [20,22]. In terms of the feed conversion ratio, the pelleted diet was superior to the loose diet (4.56, 5.99 respectively ), confirming the findings of [16] and [21], whereas [18,20], did not observe a significant difference between the pelleted diet and the loose diet, and it was mentioned [20], that pelletizing the feed does not always improve the feed conversion ratio. The pelleted diet was superior to the loose diet in terms of feeding efficiency (223, 172 gm weight gain / kg dry matter ), which may be attributable to the increased digestibility of nutrients as a result of pelleting the feed and the absence of energy losses during digestion [16].…”

“…Concerning the effect of the physical form of the total mixed ration on feeding performance, the results indicated that there was no significant difference between the loose and pelleted ration forms in terms of feed intake (1130, 1168 gm/day respectively) and dry matter intake (1035, 1068 gm/day respectively ). Numerous previous studies demonstrated that pelleted diets significantly increased feed and dry matter consumption in comparison to loose diets [18][19][20][21]. The process of compressing feed into pellet reduces the feed's volume and increases its density, resulting in a decrease in the rumen full and a subsequent increase in the amount of voluntary feed intake [20,22].…”

Effect of Feeding Mash or Pelletized Sugarcane Bagasse Based Diet on Nutrients Digestibility, Some Blood Constituents and Growth Performance of Growing Crossbred Goats

“…Pi et al (2005) found that feeding pelletized rice straw-based total mixed diet resulted in higher intake, daily weight growth, and feed efficiency in Boer goats than ryegrass hay-based rations. In addition, Raju et al (2021) reported that the higher weight gain and average daily gain in pelleted diets are reflected by increased digestibility of OM, CP and NDF.…”

A review of India’s fodder production status and opportunities

“…However, straw is a low-quality dry fodder that is fed as filler to cattle since it has little nutritional value. Minerals, vitamins and proteins are all in short supply (Raju et al, 2021). Even the carbohydrate is also of low quality having just 40%-50% digestibility.…”