Nutrient utilization and rumen metabolism in sheep fed Prosopis juliflora pods and Cenchrus grass

SpringerPlus

Table 3 Nutritive value of diets and nutritional profile of sheep in different groups

Parameters	G1	G2	G3	SEM	'P’ value	Significance
						Linear	Quadratic
*Nutritive value*
Digestible organic matter (g/kg)	504	513	517	14.7	0.209	0.395	0.023
Crude protein (g/kg)	125.2^b	119.5^ab	117.1^a	0.79	<0.001	<0.001	0.116
Digestible crude protein (g/kg)	100.6^b	97.2^ab	94.2^a	1.50	0.033	0.010	0.894
Metabolizable energy (MJ/kg)	7.85	7.99	8.05	0.229	0.814	0.542	0.882
Relative feed value*	149	150	147	5.1	0.904	0.752	0.758
*Nutrient intake (g/kg LW)*
Dry matter	34.2	34.0	33.2	0.70	0.561	0.311	0.757
Digestible organic matter	17.3	17.4	17.1	0.58	0.932	0.860	0.748
Crude protein	4.28^b	3.95^a	3.88^a	0.059	0.002	<0.001	0.740
Digestible crude protein	3.45^b	3.20^ab	3.12^a	0.072	0.026	0.008	0.873
Metabolizable energy (J)	269	271	267	9.1	0.932	0.860	0.748
*Nutrient intake (g/kgW* ^0.75 )
Dry matter	87.0	86.7	86.0	1.62	0.890	0.643	0.920
Digestible organic matter	43.9	44.5	44.3	1.43	0.853	0.825	0.834
Crude protein	10.90^b	10.36^a	10.06^a	0.139	0.004	0.001	0.508
Digestible crude protein	8.76	8.42	8.09	0.174	0.055	0.018	0.980
Metabolizable energy (J)	684	693	691	22.9	0.953	0.825	0.834
*Live weight change*
Initial live weight (kg)	45.3	45.2	45.8	1.57	0.963	0.842	0.853
Final live weight (kg)	45.5	46.2	46.5	1.59	0.895	0.646	0.939
Gain (kg)	0.18	0.99	0.78	0.430	0.399	0.335	0.342

ME intake (MJ/kg DM) = [(digestible OM, g/kg DM)/1000] × 18.5 × 0.81; {ARC,1990}.
* Relative feed value (RFV) = {Digestible dry matter (%) × Dry matter intake (% of live weight)}/1.29; {Jeranyama and Garcia,2004}.
Means bearing different superscripts in a row differ significantly (P < 0.05).
G1 (Control), Concentrate + Cenchrus; G2, Concentrate with 30% P. juliflora pods + Cenchrus; G3, Concentrate with 40% P. juliflora pods + Cenchrus.