Nutritional Evaluation of Maize {Zea mays) Husk : A New Feed Resource forSmall Ruminants

摘要

Fifteen ram lambs of Mandya (Bannur) sheep of about three months of age were selected and divided into three groups of five each in a completely randomized design. There were three experimental groups comprised of finger millet straw with concentratefeed mixture T,: control), untreated maize husk with concentrate feed mixture T2) and urea (2% WAV,) treated maize husk with concentrate feed mixture (T3). The feeding cum growth trial was carried out for a period of twelve weeks with an initial adjustment period of one week. A six days digestion trial was conducted at the end of growth trial. Among the treatment groups no significance difference was observed with respect to the DMI (T,: 425.11, T,: 421.70 & T3:424.98). The average daily gain (g/h/d) for T,, T2 and T3 groups was 68.10,62.86 and 67.14, respectively which did not differ between the treatment groups. The mean FCR (g DMI/g body weight gain) for T,, T2 and T3 groups was 6.40, 7.74 and 5.72, respectively. There was non significant differencein the mean FCR among the treatment groups, indicating the usefulness of maize husk as a roughage source. The mean apparent digestibility (%) of nutrients (DM, OM, EE, NFE and NDF) was almost comparable among the treatment groups. However, there was significant (P<0.05) difference with the digestibility of CP, CF, ADF and cellulose among groups. Cumulative gas (ml 1200 mg DM) production and energy density (ME MJ/kg DM) was higher in urea treated maize husk as compared to untreated maize husk (8.25 VS 7.85) or finger millet straw (8.25 VS 7.49). It was concluded from the present study that, either untreated or 2 per cent urea treated maize husk could be a good source of roughage for feeding sheep.