Performance of growing-fattening lambs fed whole cotton seed

✍ Scribed by Kandylis, Kostas; Nikokyris, Panayiotis N; Deligiannis, Kostas

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1998
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 198 KB
• Volume: 78
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-5142
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1097-0010(199810)78:2<281::aid-jsfa116>3.0.co;2-w

✦ Synopsis

E †ects of diets containing increasing levels of whole cotton seed (WCS) on feed intake, liveweight gain, feed conversion, feeding margin and carcass characteristics were studied. Diets contained 0, 5, 10, 15, 20 and 30% WCS and were fed ad libitum to growing lambs for 54 days. All diets were approximately isonitrogenous (163È186 g crude protein kg~1 dry matter) and isocaloric (19È20 MJ gross energy kg~1 of dry matter). During the Ðrst 28 days, four groups of 10 Karagouniko male lambs with initial liveweights of approximately 17É6 kg were fed diets containing 0, 5, 10 and 15% WCS and then, for the next 26 days, diets containing 0, 10, 20 and 30% WCS, respectively. Lambs fed the 15È30% WCS diet ingested about 20 mg kg liveweight~1 day~1 of free gossypol. At 54 days and liveweights of approximately 34É7 kg, Ðve lambs from each treatment were slaughtered and carcass data were collected. There were signiÐcant di †erences in feed intake, liveweight gain, cooler shrink, rumen contents, intestinal fat and liver weight among the lambs fed these diets. Cooler shrink and intestinal fat, and perirenal fat and the combined weight of intestinal and perirenal fat, were signiÐcantly (P \ 0É05) correlated. Pelleting of the WCS diets reduced the concentration of free gossypol in these diets. It was concluded that WCS was satisfactory as a feed ingredient for growing sheep and can be incorporated into ruminant diets as a source of energy and protein. No indication of gossypol toxicity was detected.