Animal Bioscience

  • 제38권12호
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  • Pages.2665-2678
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  • 2025
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  • 2765-0189(pISSN)
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  • 2765-0235(eISSN)
아세아태평양축산학회 (Asian Australasian Association of Animal Production Societies)
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Impact of crumbled pelleted starter feed and alfalfa inclusion on feed intake, growth, and rumen microbiota in young lambs

  • Qihao Gao (College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University) ;
  • Guoxiu Wang (College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University) ;
  • Zhanyu Chen (College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University) ;
  • Jiale Jia (College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University) ;
  • Haoyu Xu (College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University) ;
  • Yunfei Xu (College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University) ;
  • Zhen Liu (College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University) ;
  • Liyun Liu (College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University) ;
  • Baosheng Li (Gansu Runmu Bio-Engineering Co., Ltd.) ;
  • Chong Li (College of Animal Science and Technology, Gansu Agricultural University)
  • 투고 : 2025.01.03
  • 심사 : 2025.05.29
  • 발행 : 2025.12.01
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초록

Objective: Pelleted feed has multiple advantages in animal production, but its hardness may limit the intake of young lambs with underdeveloped teeth and digestive systems, especially when the feed contains alfalfa and is produced with a high compression ratio in small diameters. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of removing alfalfa from starter feed or post-pelleting crumbling on lamb performance. We hypothesized that crumbling pelleted feed could reduce hardness, thereby increasing intake and enhancing performance. Methods: A total of 118 healthy, 7-day-old Hu lambs (4.02±0.94 kg) were allocated to three groups: (1) a pelleted starter with alfalfa (CON), (2) a non-alfalfa pelleted starter (NA), and (3) a crumbled starter with alfalfa (CA). Feed intake, growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and rumen microbial composition were measured. Results: The CA group demonstrated significantly reduced pellet hardness than the CON and NA groups (p<0.05), while NA group had higher starch gelatinization (p<0.05). CA notably increased feed intake, particularly after day 21 (p<0.05), and achieved the highest overall intake, body weight and average daily gain from days 7-49. The interaction between feed type and sex had significant impacton the digestibility of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF). In male lambs, both NA and CA groups demonstrated significantly higher digestibility of NDF and ADF compared to the CON group (p<0.05). Rumen microbiota diversity was influenced by feed composition more than pellet form, with alfalfa inclusion affecting a greater number of microbial genera. Crumbling increased the abundance of Methanobrevibacter (p<0.05). Conclusion: These findings suggest that post-pelleting crumbling using a roller mill enhances feed intake and growth performance in young lambs, while feed composition plays a predominant role in shaping rumen microbial diversity.

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과제정보

We would like to thank the native English-speaking scientists of Elixigen Company (Huntington Beach, California) for editing our manuscript. This manuscript has been submitted as a preprint to Preprints.org and is available at DOI. https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202501.0024.v1

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