Effect of brewers' grain silage supplementation on digestibility, body weight gain, and meat quality of castrated sheep fed hay harvested in the forest-steppe pastures of Mongolia

摘要

Pastoral livestock production systems in Mongolia are traditionally conducted in natural open pastures.However, this productivity is extremely seasonal, and the availability of supplemental feeds to combat the cold and starvation of animals has been a key constraint in the system.Brewers' grain is one available feed resource and its production has been increasing.However, its utilization is restricted, and most of it is discarded, particularly in warm seasons.Subsequently, the grain silage moisture content was controlled by mixing it with wheat bran, and different amounts of the silage was supplemented to the basal hay diet of castrated sheep for ＞ 100 days.Only hay was fed to the control sheep.The results showed the possible benefits from feeding brewers' grain for the improvement of the production system, particularly in/around urban areas.