Browse > Article
http://dx.doi.org/10.5713/ajas.2010.90094

Growth Performances and Carcass Characteristics of Indigenous Lambs Fed Halophyte Sporobolus virginicus Grass Hay  

Al-Shorepy, S.A. (Department of Aridland Agriculture, College of Food and agriculture, UAE University)
Alhadrami, G.A. (Department of Aridland Agriculture, College of Food and agriculture, UAE University)
Al-Dakheel, A.J. (International Center for Biosaline Agriculture (ICBA))
Publication Information
Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences / v.23, no.5, 2010 , pp. 556-562 More about this Journal
Abstract
The objective of the present study was to compare feed and water intakes, growth performance and carcasscharacteristics of indigenous lamb fed diets containing various levels of halophyte Sporobolus grass hay. Forty male and female lambs were randomly and equally allotted with 5 lambs of each sex per treatment to four dietary treatment groups, which were initially formulated to have 100, 70, 30 or 0.0% Sporobolus grass hay, as a source of forage replacement for conventional Rhodes grass commonly used in the region. The lambs receiving 0.0% Sporobolus grass hay (100% Rhodes grass hay) served as the control. Feed and water were offered ad libitum. Male lambs were slaughtered at the end of the feeding trials. The average daily feed intake was significantly (p<0.05) higher for the animals fed different levels of Sporobolus grass hay than for the control animals. Feed conversion ratio (FCR), i.e., kg feed/kg BW, was similar in all treatment groups. Although lambs fed the diet with 70% Sporobolus grass hay had heavier carcass weights, the differences were not significant. In conclusion, growth performance or carcass characteristics of fattening indigenous lambs were not influenced by the inclusion of different levels of Sporobolus grass hay in the diet. Because of this, Sporobolus grass hay represents an alternative forage resource for sustaining small ruminant production in the saline coastal and subcoastal areas of the world.
Keywords
Halophyte; Sporobolus Grass; Indigenous Lambs; Growth Performance; Carcass Characteristics;
Citations & Related Records
Times Cited By KSCI : 1  (Citation Analysis)
Times Cited By Web Of Science : 0  (Related Records In Web of Science)
Times Cited By SCOPUS : 0
연도 인용수 순위
1 Al-Dabeeb, S. N. 2005. Effect of feeding low quality date palm on growth performance and apparent digestion coefficients in fattening Najdi sheep. Small Rumin. Res. 57:37-41   DOI   ScienceOn
2 Tomas, F. M., G. B. Jones, B. J. Potter and G. L. Langsford. 1973. Influence of saline drinking water on mineral balances in sheep. Aust. J. Agric. Res. 24:377-386   DOI
3 Alhadrami, G. A. 2003. In situ dry matter and fiber degradation of salt tolerant Sporobolus grass hay in camels fed yeast culture. J. Camel Practice and Res. 10(2):139-144
4 Alhadrami, G. A., M. H. Abdel-Gawad and J. Jumma. 1998. In-situ SM and fiber degradation in camels and in-vitro gas production of two grasses irrigated with sea water. Third Annual Meeting for Animal Production under arid Conditions
5 Butterfield, R. M. 1988. New concepts of sheep growth. Department of Veterinary Anatomy. University of Sydney, Australia, p. 168
6 Masters, D. G., S. E. Benes and H. C. Norman. 2007. Biosaline agriculture for forage and livestock production. Agric. Ecosyst. Environ. 119:234-248   DOI   ScienceOn
7 Gihad, E. A. 1993. Utilization of high salinity tolerant plants and saline water by desert animals. In: Towards the rational use of high salinity tolerant plants, Vol. 1. (Ed. H. Lieth and A. A. Al Masoom). pp. 443-447. KluwerAcademic, Dordrecht, Netherlands
8 Mahgoub, O., D. J. Byerley, J. M. Chestworth and R. M. Myhara. 1998. Effect of testicular status and feeding diets containing palm by-products on growth and composition of the rack cut in Omani sheep. Small Rumin. Res. 28:281-288   DOI   ScienceOn
9 Masters, D. G., A. J. Rintoul, R. A. Dynes, K. L. Pearce and H. C. Norman. 2005. Feed intake and production in sheep fed diets high in sodium and potassium. Aust. J. Agric. Res. 56:427-434   DOI   ScienceOn
10 Reffett, J. K. and J. A. Boling. 1985. Nutrient utilization in lambs fed diets high in sodium or potassium. J. Anim. Sci. 61:1004-1009   PUBMED
11 SAS. 1999. Statistical Analysis System. In: Release 9. 1. Institute INC, Cary, N.C., USA
12 Steel, G. D. R. and H. J. Torrie. 1986. Principles and Procedures of Statistics, second ed. McGrow-Hill, USA
13 Alhadrami, G. A., S. A. Al-Shoropy, M. A. Ayoub and A. M. Yousef. 2004. Growth performance of Sheep fed Sporobolus grass hay grown in saline desert lands and irrigated with high salt content water. Proc. Seventh Annual UAE University Res. Conf. 2:27-34
14 Robinson, P. H., S. R. Grattan, G. Getachew, C. M. Grieve, J. A. Poss, D. L. Suarez and S. E. Benes. 2004. Biomass accumulation and potential nutritive value of some forages irrigated with saline-sodic drainage water. Anim. Feed Sci. Technol. 111:175-189   DOI   ScienceOn
15 Abouheif, M. A., M. Al-Saiady, M. Kraidees, A. Tag Eldin and H. Metwally. 2000. Influence of inclusion of salicornia biomass in diets for rams on digestion and mineral balance. Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 13:967-973   ScienceOn
16 Ministry of Environment and Water. 2005. Agricultural census Results, Ministry of Environment and Water, Dubai, United Arab Emirates
17 Alhadrami, G. A., A. A. Nigm, A. M. Kholif and O. M. Abdalla. 1997. Effect of roughage to concentrate ratio on performance and carcass characteristics of local lambs in the United Arab Emirates. Arab Gulf J. Sci. Res. 15:137-148   ScienceOn
18 AOAC. 1990. Official Methods of Analysis, 15th Ed. Association of Official Analytical Chemist, Arlington, VA
19 Al-Shoropy, S. A., G. A. Alhadrami and M. A. Ayoub. 2005. Growth performance indigenous goats fed Distichlis grass hay grown in saline desert lands and irrigated with high salt content water. Proc. Seventh Annual UAE University Res. Conf. 2:21-26
20 Gihad, E. A. and H. M. El Shaer. 1994. Utilization of halophytes by livestock on rangelands: problems and prospects. In:Halophytes as a resource for livestock and for rehabilitation of degraded lands (Ed. V. R. Squires and A. T. Ayoub) pp. 77-96. Kluwer Academic, Dordrccht, Netherlands
21 Miyamoto, S., E. P. Glenn and N. T. Singh. 1994. Utilization of halophytic plants for fodder production withbrackish water in subtropic deserts. In: Halophytes as a resource for livestock and for rehabilitation of degraded lands (Ed. V. R. Squires and A. T. Ayoub). pp. 43-76. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, Netherlands
22 Singh, N. P., S. K. Sankhyan and V. S. S. Prasad. 2003. Production performance and carcass characteristics of Malpura and Mutton synthetic lambs fed low and high energy rations in a semiarid region of India. Asian-Aust. J. Anim. Sci. 16(5):655-659   ScienceOn
23 Swingle, R. S., E. P. Glenn and V. Squires. 1996. Growth performance of lambs fed mixed diets containing halophyte ingredients. Anim. Feed Sci. Technol. 63:137-148   DOI   ScienceOn
24 Al-Dakheel, A. J., G. S. Al-Hadrami, S. A. Al-Shorepy and G. AbuRummani. 2006. Optimizing management practices for maximum production of two salt-tolerant grasses: Sporobolus Virginicus and Distichlis Spicata. Proc. Seventh Annual UAE University Res. Conf. 2:44-50
25 Al-Shorepy, S. A. 2001. Genetic parameters for growth traits of Local breed of sheep in the United Arab Emirates. J. Agric. Sci. (Camb.) 137:1-7
26 Kellaway, R. C., D. J. Thomson, D. E. Beever and D. F. Osbourn. 1977. Effects of NaCl growth rate and acid±base balance in calves. J. Agric. Sci. Camb. 88:1-9   DOI
27 Glenn, E. P. 1987. Relationship between cation accumulation and water content of salt-tolerant grasses and a sedge. Plant Cell Environ. 10:205-212   DOI
28 Glenn, E. P. and M. C. Watson. 1993. Halophyte crops for direct seawater irrigation. In: Towards the rational use of high salinity tolerant plants. Vol. 1. (Ed. H. Lieth and A. A. Al Masoom). pp. 379-386. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, Netherlands
29 Mahgoub, O., C. D. Lu and R. J. Early. 2000. Effects of dietary energy density on feed intake, body weight gain and carcass chemical composition of Omani growing lambs. Small Rumin. Res. 37:35-42   DOI   ScienceOn
30 Gallagher, J. L. 1985. Halophytic crops for cultivation at seawater salinity. Plant Soil 89:323-336   DOI
31 Glenn, E. P. and J. W. O'Leary. 1985. Productivity and irrigation requirements of halophytes grown with seawater in the Sonoran Desert. J. Arid Environ. 9:81-91
32 Glenn, E. P., R. S. Swingle, J. J. Riley, C. U. Mota, M. C. Watson, and V. R. Squires. 1994. North American halophytes: potential use in animal husbandry. In: Halophytes as a resource for livestock and for rehabilitation of degraded lands (Ed. V. R. Squires and A. T. Ayoub). pp. 165-174. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht, Netherlands
33 Gatenby, R. M. 1986. Sheep production in the tropics and the subtropics. Longman, New York, USA, p. 351
34 Kraidees, M. S., M. A. Abouheif, M. Y. Al-Saiady, A. Tag-Eldin, and H. Metwally. 1998. The effect of dietary inclusion of halophyte Salicornia bigelovii Torr on growth performance and carcass characteristics of lambs. Anim. Feed Sci. Technol. 76:149-159   DOI   ScienceOn