Evaluation of some complete rations in sheep incorporating unconventional feed resources of arid zone of India Sharma Vishnu*, Purohit G.R., Arya R.S., Harsh Meenakshi College of Veterinary ad Animal Sciences Rajasthan Agricultural University, Bikaner-334 001, India *Reprint request: Dr. Vishnu Sharma, Research Centre for Livestock Health and Production, Rajasthan Agricultural University, Jaipur-302 020, India, E-mail: drvishnus@yahoo.com
Abstract A study was conducted on 12 adult Marwari rams to explore and evaluate the efficiency of complete rations prepared from non conventional feeds of arid zone viz; sewen grass (Lasirus, sindicus) mesquite (Prosopis juliflora) pods, groundnut (Arachis hypogea) straw, tumba (Citrullus colosynthis) oil cake, taramira (Eruca sativa) oil cake and groundnut hulls. Six complete rations (CR-1 to CR-VI) were prepared incorporating these high fibrous feeds of the arid region and evaluated for chemical composition, various fibre characteristics besides, their influence on feed intake, nutrient utilization and rumen fermentation pattern. Results of the study indicated treatment effect (P<0.05) on feed intake, utilization of nutrients and nitrogen balance. However, intake of digestible nutrients in all rations was as per the recommendations of ICAR. Rumen fermentation pattern was found to be comparable among the feed sources. It was concluded that high fibrous unconventional feedstuffs can be blended together to form complete economic rations for sustaining sheep during feed scarcity in arid region. Top Keywords Unconventional feeds, Arid zone, Complete ration, Sheep. Top |