Impact of crumbled pelleted starter feed and alfalfa inclusion on feed intake, growth, and rumen microbiota in young lambs.

IF 2.4 2区农林科学 Q1 AGRICULTURE, DAIRY & ANIMAL SCIENCE

Animal Bioscience Pub Date : 2025-06-04 DOI:10.5713/ab.25.0007

Qihao Gao, Guoxiu Wang, Zhanyu Chen, Jiale Jia, Haoyu Xu, Yunfei Xu, Zhen Liu, Liyun Liu, Baosheng Li, Chong Li

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Abstract

Pelleted feed has multiple advantages in animal production, but its hardness may limit the intake of young lambs whose teeth and digestive systems are not yet fully developed, especially when the feed contains alfalfa and is produced with a high compression ratio in small diameters. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of removing alfalfa from starter feed or post-pelleting crumbling on lamb performance. We hypothesized that crumbling pelleted feed could reduce hardness, thereby increasing intake and enhancing performance.A total of 118 healthy, 7-day-old Hu lambs (4.02 ± 0.94 kg) were allocated to three groups: (1) a pelleted starter with alfalfa (CON), (2) a non-alfalfa pelleted starter (NA), and (3) a crumbled starter with alfalfa (CA). Feed intake, growth performance, nutrient digestibility, and rumen microbial composition were measured.The CA group showed significantly reduced pellet hardness compared to the CON and NA groups (P < 0.05), while NA group had higher starch gelatinization (P < 0.05). CA notably increased feed intake, particularly after day 21 (P < 0.05), and achieved the highest overall intake, body weight (BW) and average daily gain (ADG) from days 7-49. The interaction between feed type and sex significantly influenced the digestibility of neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and acid detergent fiber (ADF). In male lambs, both NA and CA groups demonstrated significantly higher digestibility of NDF and ADF compared to the CON group (P < 0.05). Rumen microbiota diversity was influenced by feed composition more than pellet form, with alfalfa inclusion affecting a greater number of microbial genera. Crumbling increased the abundance of Methanobrevibacter (P < 0.05).These findings suggest that post-pelleting crumbling using a roller mill enhances feed intake and growth performance in young lambs, while feed composition plays a predominant role in shaping rumen microbial diversity.

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粉碎颗粒料和苜蓿包埋对羔羊采食量、生长和瘤胃微生物群的影响。

颗粒饲料在动物生产中具有多种优势，但其硬度可能会限制牙齿和消化系统尚未发育完全的羔羊的摄入量，特别是当饲料中含有苜蓿并以小直径的高压缩比生产时。本试验旨在评价在起始饲料中去除苜蓿或在制粒后粉碎对羔羊生产性能的影响。我们假设粉碎颗粒饲料可以降低硬度，从而增加采食量和提高生产性能。试验选用健康的7日龄湖羊羔羊118只（体重4.02±0.94 kg），分为3组：(1)苜蓿颗粒化发酵剂组（CON）、(2)非苜蓿颗粒化发酵剂组（NA）和(3)苜蓿碎化发酵剂组（CA）。测定采食量、生长性能、营养物质消化率和瘤胃微生物组成。CA组颗粒硬度显著低于CON组和NA组（P < 0.05）， NA组淀粉糊化率显著高于CON组和NA组（P < 0.05）。CA显著提高了采食量，尤其是第21天（P < 0.05），在第7 ~ 49天总采食量、体重和平均日增重最高。饲料类型和性别的交互作用显著影响中性洗涤纤维（NDF）和酸性洗涤纤维（ADF）的消化率。在公羔羊中，NA组和CA组NDF和ADF的消化率均显著高于CON组（P < 0.05）。瘤胃微生物群多样性受饲料组成的影响大于颗粒形式的影响，其中苜蓿包埋物影响的微生物属数量更多。破碎提高了甲烷发酵菌的丰度（P < 0.05）。综上所述，采用碾磨机粉碎颗粒可提高羔羊采食量和生长性能，而饲料组成对瘤胃微生物多样性的形成起主导作用。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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