EFFECT OF EARLY WEANING DIETS CONTAINING DIFFERENT PROTEIN SOURCES ON THE PERFORMANCE OF INTENSIFIED AFGHANI LAMBS

A study was undertaken to investigate the effect of feeding early weaning diets based on different vegetable protein sources fed to Afghani lambs. Three isonitrogenous and isocaloric complete formula diets viz., A, B and C were prepared having cottonseed meal, soybean meal and canola meal; respectively as major source of protein. Eighteen 30-35 days old Afghani male lambs were randomly allotted to three experimental diets. Lambs were fed individually twice a day for a period of 60 days. Daily feed intake and weekly weight gain was recorded. Results indicated that weight gain was significantly(p<0.05) higher(282 g/lamb/day) in lambs fed diet B as compared to lamvs fed on diets A(231 g/lamb/day) and C(242 g/lamb/day). No significant difference was found in feed intake among the diets. Significant difference(p<0.05) were noticed in feed efficiency in lambs fed on diets A(6.88), B(5.41) and C(6.17).The economic efficiency was observed to be the best on diet B as compared to diets A and C. It was concluded that Afghani lambs(30-35 days) can be reared on early weaning diets and soybean meal was found comparatively better protein source for early weaning diet.