Utilization of date palm leaves in the diet of lambs under tropical conditions

Title : Utilization of date palm leaves in the diet of lambs under tropical conditions

Abstract:

The efficiency of the bacterium Bacillus subtilis and white-rot fungus Phanerochaete chrysosporium on growth performance, blood metabolites, carcass characteristics, meat composition and nutrient digestibility of lambs fed crushed whole palm leaf hay was investigated for 105 d. In Experiment 1 (Growth experiment), twenty-four lambs (29.5 ± 1.25 kg) were divided into four feed-based treatments: (1) concentrate and wheat straw ad libitum (control), (2) palm leaf hay (DPL), (3) palm leaf hay supplemented with 2 g of B. subtilis and P. chrysosporium (DPL2) or (4) palm leaf hay supplemented with 4 g of B. subtilis and P. chrysosporium (DPL4). In Experiment 2 (Digestibility experiment), twelve rams, three from each treatment, were used to study nutrient digestibility using the faecal bag technique. Results of the Experiment 1 showed that the DPL4 showed greater (P=0.049) live-weight gain than the control. The diets containing palm leaf hay showed lower (P=0.001) roughage and total feed intake and higher (P=0.001) feed efficiency than the control. Increased serum total protein, globulin, urea-N, aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels were observed with the DPL4 (P?0.05). Additionally, diets containing palm leaf hay showed higher ALT levels than the control. The DPL4 increased the hot carcass weight (P=0.006) and dressing percentage (P=0.036), and the diets supplemented with B. subtilis and P. chrysosporium decreased (P?0.05) the tail fat and all fat levels compared with the DPL treatment. Results of the Experiment 2 showed that nutrient digestibility was lower (P?0.05) with the DPL and DPL2 than with the control and DPL4. Compared with the control, nutrient digestibility of DPL4 was not affected. It is concluded that replacement of wheat straw with palm leaf hay did not affect the feed utilization or animal performance of the lambs; however, supplementation with B. subtilis and P. chrysosporium at 4 g/lamb daily enhanced the growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and carcass characteristics without any adverse effects on blood metabolites.
Key words: Blood Metabolites, Date Palm Leaves, Digestibilities, Performance, Wheat Straw.

Biography:

Prof. Hamdon studied animal production, Faculty of Agriculture at the Assiut University, Egypt and graduated as MSc in 1996 and PhD in 2005 at the same University. He attended more advanced courses in Cheam, IAMZ from Spain. More over attended more conferences in EAAP. Currently, He is the Vice-Dean and Head of the Department. He supervised many master's and doctoral theses. He is also a member of the Agricultural Sector Committee in the ARE, and is among the arbitrators for the promotion of professors and assistant professors. He has published more than 20 research articles in Scopus and Web of SCI journals.