Assessment of different dietary alfalfa hay to alfalfa silage ratios for dromedary camel feeding

ABSTRACT

Two in vivo experiments studied the effects of different alfalfa hay (AH) to alfalfa silage (AS) ratios including 100:0 (AH100), 50:50 (AH50:AS50) and 0:100 (AS100) in total mixed rations (TMR) of dromedary camels. In experiment (Exp.) 1, a total of 18 multiparous Baluchi dairy camel [100 ± 5 days in milk (DIM); 3.65 ± 0.539 kg milk yield] were randomly allocated to one of the three groups (n = 6) for 42 d of experimental period. Dry matter intake (DMI) and milk yield were recorded daily, and blood samples were collected on days 0, 21 and 42. In Exp. 2, 18 male Baluchi camel calves [275 ± 14 days of old; 105 ± 8 kg BW] were housed in individual shaded pens for 150 days. DMI was recorded daily and individual weights of camels were recorded monthly. Blood samples were collected on days 0, 75 and 150. In Exp.1, feeding different dietary AH:AS ratios altered neither DMI (p = 0.351) nor milk yield (p = 0.667). Of all milk components, only the milk urea nitrogen (MUN) was increased (p = 0.015) by AS feeding (both AH50:AS50 and/or AS100). AS feeding tended to increase AST (p = 0.099) and ALT (p = 0.092) levels in lactating camels. In Exp. 2, DMI (p = 0.845), average daily gain (ADG; p = 0.092) and return per kg BW gain (p = 0.710) of silage-fed camels were similar to those of hay-fed group. The plasma concentration of BUN (p = 0.014) and AST (p = 0.014) were increased in camels fed AS100. Overall, the results suggest that both AS and/or AH could be used in dromedary camel diets based on the climatic condition, season and available facilities; however, the long-term use of AS (as sole forage) should done with caution due to the potential risk of impaired liver function. Further studies needed to explore the impact of hay versus silage feeding on digestibility, rumen function and nitrogen pollution in camel feeding.

KEYWORDS:

• Blood metabolites
• dairy camel
• fattening camel
• legume forages
• milk composition
• performance

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to Department of Animal Science of the University of Birjand for its help in this experiment. We further acknowledge the Pardis Development Company of Iran for providing the assortment of camels. We especially thank Dr. Amir Mansour Vatankhah for his excellent laboratory work.

Disclosure statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Author contributions

Navid Ghavipanje: Conceptualization, Investigation, Methodology, Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing – original draft preparation, Writing – review and editing, Visualization, Funding acquisition, Project administration; Mohammad Hasan Fathi Nasri: Funding acquisition, Writing – review and editing, Project administration, Supervision; Mojtaba Afshin: Investigation, Data curation; Seyyed Ahmad Hosseini: Funding acquisition. Sajjad Khorashadi: Investigation. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, (Navid Ghavipanje) upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This study was funded by the Research Vice-Chancellor of the University of Birjand [project no 21944].