Lactation performance of Awassi ewes fed diets containing either Atriplex halimus L. or olive cake

Figures & data

Table 1. Ingredients and chemical composition of diets fed to Awassi ewes (studies 1 and 2).

Item	Diet^a
	CON	OC	ATR
Ingredients, g/kg dry matter (DM)
Barley grain, whole	580	610	645
Soybean meal, 440, g/kg CP (solvent)	150	120	85
Wheat straw^b	250	0	0
Olive cake^c	0	250	0
Atriplex halimus L.^d	0	0	250
Salt	10	10	10
Limestone	9	9	9
Vitamin–mineral premix^e	1	1	1
Feed cost/ton, US$^f	353	282	269
Nutrients, g/kg DM
Dry matter	912	908	909
Crude protein (CP)	153	155	154
Neutral detergent fibre (NDF)	317	281	249
Acid detergent fibre (ADF)	134	125	89
Ether extract (EE)	10	53	14
Ash	8.15	5.78	7.14

^aDiets were: The control diet (CON), 250 g/kg olive cake (OC), and 250 g/kg Atriplex halimus L. (ATR) of dietary DM. ^bContained 16 g/kg CP, 689 g/kg NDF, 380 ADF, 5 g/kg EE and 88 ash of DM basis. ^cContained 80 g/kg CP, 508 g/kg NDF, 332 g/kg ADF, 203 g/kg EE and 67.0 g/kg ash of DM. ^dContained 114 g/kg CP, 524 g/kg NDF, 322 g/kg ADF, 22 g/kg EE and 72.8 g/kg ash of DM. ^eComposition per kg contained: vitamin A, 600,000 U; vitamin D₃, 200,000 U; vitamin E, 75 mg; vitamin K₃, 200 mg; vitamin B₁, 100 mg; vitamin B₅, 500 mg; lysine, 0.5%; DL-methionine, 0.15%; manganese oxide, 4000 mg; ferrous sulphate, 15,000 mg; zinc oxide, 7000 mg; magnesium oxide, 4000 mg; potassium iodide, 80 mg; sodium selenite, 150 mg; copper sulphate, 100 mg; cobalt phosphate, 50 mg; dicalcium phosphate, 10,000 mg. ^fCalculated based on the prices of diet ingredients for the year 2019.

Table 2. Effects of feeding olive cake (OC) or Atriplex halimus L. (ATR) on the nutrient intake of Awassi ewes fed lactation diets (Study 1).

Item	Diet^1				p-Value
	CON	OC	ATR	SEM
	(n = 11)	(n = 11)	(n = 11)
Nutrient intake, g/d
Dry matter	2534^a	2333^b	2394^b	86.0	.04
Crude protein	388	362	353	13.3	.07
Neutral detergent fibre	803^a	656^b	571^c	25.3	<.0001
Acid detergent fibre	340^a	292^b	204^c	10.9	<.0001
Ether extract	28^b	124^a	32^b	3.2	<.0001

¹Diets were: The control diet (CON), 250 g/kg OC, and 250 g/kg ATR of dietary DM. ^a,bMeans within a row, without a common superscript, differ significantly (p < .05).

Abbreviations. SEM: Standard error mean; CON: control diet; OC: olive cake; ATR: Atriplex halimus L.; DM: dry matter.

Table 3. Effect of feeding olive cake (OC) or Atriplex halimus L. (ATR) on the body weight of ewes and the growth rate of lambs (Study 1).

Item	Diets^a				p-Value
	CON	OC	ATR	SEM
	(n = 11)	(n = 11)	(n = 11)
Ewes
Initial body weight, kg	56.6	56.1	56.7	2.3	.97
Final body weight, kg	56.0	55.0	56.0	1.2	.90
Body weight change, kg	−0.7	−1.1	−0.7	1.5	.97
Lambs
Initial body weight, kg	5.3	5.5	5.3	0.2	.80
Final body weight, kg	17.6	17.8	17.4	0.8	.93
Total gain, kg	12.3	12.4	12.2	0.7	.98
Average daily gain, g	220	221	217	13.2	.98

^aDiets were: The control diet (CON), 250 g/kg OC, and 250 g/kg ATR of dietary DM.

Abbreviations. SEM: Standard error mean; CON: control diet; OC: olive cake; ATR: Atriplex halimus L.; DM: dry matter.

Table 4. Effect of feeding olive cake (OC) or Atriplex halimus (ATR) on milk yield and composition of Awassi ewes fed lactation diets (Study 1).

Item	Diets^1				p-Value
	CON	OC	ATR	SEM	Diet	Period	Diet × period
	(n = 11)	(n = 11)	(n = 11)
Milk yield, g/d	1560	1519	1502	264.1	.99	.36	.47
Milk composition, %
Total Solids	19.1^b	18.7^b	20.4^a	0.4	.01	.16	.11
Protein	4.5	4.5	4.6	0.1	.32	.15	.24
Fat	6.8^b	6.2^b	7.7^a	0.3	.002	.80	.64
Milk yield, g/d
Total Solids	288	281	303	43.5	.94	.33	.45
Protein	69	69	69	10.8	1.00	.41	.51
Fat	97	92	113	12.9	.48	.36	.50
Cost/kg milk production, US$	83.1^a	56.1^b	51.8^b	6.3	.04
Feed efficiency^2	2.1	1.7	1.6	0.2	.21

¹Dietary treatments: Control group (CON), 250 g/kg OC, and 250 g/kg ATR of dietary DM (fed for 8 week period). ²Feed efficiency (DM intake: milk production). ^a,bWithin a row, means without a common superscript differ (p < .05).

Abbreviations. SEM: Standard error mean; CON: control diet; OC: olive cake; ATR: Atriplex halimus L.; DM: dry matter.

Table 5. Effect of feeding olive cake (OC) or Atriplex halimus (ATR) on nutrient digestibility and N balance of Awassi ewes fed lactation diets (Study 2).

Item	Diets^1				p-Value
	CON	OC	ATR	SEM
	(n = 6)	(n = 6)	(n = 6)
Nutrient intake, g/d
Dry matter	1258	1235	1153	150.1	.87
Crude protein	192	91	178	23.2	.88
Neutral detergent fibre	399	347	287	43.2	.23
Acid detergent fibre	169	154	123	18.7	.10
Ether extract	14^a	65^b	16^a	16.6	.003
Digestibility, %
Dry matter	78.6^b	78.6^b	83.8^a	1.6	.01
Crude protein	80.6	75.7	82.3	2.7	.10
Neutral detergent fibre	62.3	53.7	61.6	3.1	.10
Acid detergent fibre	49.2	45.5	46.0	2.9	.54
Ether extract	74.6^b	85.6^a	73.6^b	1.1	<.001
Nitrogen Balance
N intake, g/d	30.8	30.4	28.7	2.5	.83
N faeces, g/d	7.2	7.6	7.8	0.4	.47
N urine, g/d	8.7	7.8	6.7	1.4	.60
N retained, g/d	14.9	14.9	14.2	1.9	.96
N retention, g/100 g	47.4	48.7	49.7	4.3	.93

¹Diets were: The control diet (CON), 250 g/kg OC, and 250 g/kg ATR of dietary DM. ^a,bWithin a row, means without a common superscript differ (p < .05).

Abbreviations. SEM: Standard error mean; CON: control diet; OC: olive cake; ATR: Atriplex halimus L.; DM: dry matter.

Abbeddou S, Rischkowsky B, Hilali MED, Hess HD, Kreuzer M. 2011. Influence of feeding Mediterranean food industry by-products and forages to Awassi sheep on physicochemical properties of milk, yoghurt and cheese. J Dairy Res. 78(4):426–435.

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