Effect of concentrate feed supplementation during different physiological stages in Madras Red Sheep
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Date
2018-04
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Agricultural Research Communication Centre
Abstract
This study was undertaken to assess the performance of Madras Red sheep fed concentrate feed at different physiological
stages such as prior to breeding (14 days), late gestation (last 42 days) and early lactation (first 60 days) and compounded
feed for growing lambs up to 120 days of age. The study was conducted at Postgraduate Research Institute in Animal
Sciences, Kattupakkam, Tamil Nadu. In this, sixty ewes were selected in the age group of 3 to 5 years and divided into three
groups with twenty in each group. The first group was allowed for grazing for seven hours daily from 9.00 A.M to 4.00 P.M
and served as control group (G1).The second and third group (G2 and G3) of animals were supplemented with concentrate
feed @ 10% and 20% of their daily dry matter requirement, respectively. The result indicates that the supplementation of
concentrate feed to sheep significantly (p<0.05) improved the production and reproduction performance of sheep in terms
of body weight gain during late pregnancy and early lactation, conception rate, lambing percentage, birth weight and ADG
of lambs in group (G3) when compared to concentrate feed supplementation @ 10 % of dry matter requirement (G2) or nonsupplemented
groups (G1). It is concluded that the net profit available per ewe was more in G3 followed by G 2 and G1
groups.
Description
Keywords
Veterinary Science, Animal Research