Vol. 9, Issue 1, Part D (2024)

Author(s): Hayavadana GR, Preetam Sangam, Jaishankar N, Chethan KP, Shivakumar MC, Ramachandra B, Guruprasad R and Hemanth Gowda K

Abstract: The study conducted with twenty Hassan sheep lambs of 3-4 months age and average body weight of 9.0 kgs,which were divided into four groups randomly as per completely randomized design and all the groups were fed ad libitum green fodder COFS-29 as sole source of roughage. The control group(T₁) was fed compounded feed mixture (CFM) composed of maize and soybean as major ingredients at maintenance level,CFM was fed to meet 50 g gain (T₂), 100 g gain (T₃) and 150 g gain (T₄) per day as per ICAR (2013) requirements to assess growth potential, intake and digestibility in Hassan lambs under intensive system of rearing.The feeding cum growth trial was conducted for 90 days. The ADG and DMI improved linearly across treatment groups; voluntary intake of COFS-29 was found to be 2.73% of body weight. OM, CP, EE and NFE intake significantly increased with higher CFM intake and no significant difference with intake of CF, NDF, ADF, cellulose and hemicellulose. The digestibility ofDM, OM, CP, EE and NFE increased significantly but didn’t affect CF digestibility and observed positive nitrogen balance in all the groups. Hence, it is concluded that the growth potentiality of Hassan sheep lambs was 100 g per day, when fed as per ICAR 2013 under intensive system.