TY  - JOUR
T1  - The Effect of Dietary Alhagi (<I>Camel grass</I>) Ensiled with Different Levels of Low Quality Date-Palm on Apparent Nutrient Digestion Coefficients in Kermani Sheep
AU - Ziaei, Nemat 
JO  - Research Journal of Biological Sciences
VL  - 5
IS  - 4
SP  - 314
EP  - 317
PY  - 2010
DA  - 2001/08/19
SN  - 1815-8846
DO  - rjbsci.2010.314.317
UR  - https://makhillpublications.co/view-article.php?doi=rjbsci.2010.314.317
KW  - Date palm
KW  -digestibility
KW  -Alhagi
KW  -sheep
KW  -organic matter
KW  -crude protein
AB  - A digestibility trial was conducted to evaluate feed consumption and digestibility coefficients of DM, OM, CP and Ca in Kermani lambs fed Alhagi silages supplemented with low quality date palm. Animals were randomly distributed into three groups of three lambs. The first group was fed silage containing 5% date-palm, the second group fed silage containing 10% date-palm and the third one received silage containing 15% date-palm. In the digestibility trial, three animals from each group were housed separately in metabolism cages in order to collect faeces. The apparent digestibility of OM was not affected as the date level in silage increased. The digestibility of DM (p = 0.065), NDF (p&lt;0.001), ADF (p&lt;0.05) and CP (p&lt;0.001) decreased as the date palm level was increased from 5-15%. Dry Matter Intake (DMI) was increased from 433.9-467.4 g day<SUP>-1</SUP> in lambs fed diet containing 15% date-palm silage. Results of this experiment suggested that silage containing 15% date-palm could be a good quality roughage for small ruminants.
ER  -