Effects of yellow-corn straw feed treated with calcium propionate on growth performance,digestive metabolism,and serum biochemical indexes of Hu sheep

GAO Quan-chao; ZHANG Jun-yu; ZHANG Wei-yang; WANG Qing-bo; WU Xian-guang; YANG Kai-lun

doi:10.13557/j.cnki.issn1002-2813.2024.20.002

Abstract：The experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of yellow-corn straw feed treated with calcium propionate on growth performance,digestion and metabolism and serum biochemical indexes of Hu sheep.A total of 30 male Hu sheep with similar age and body weight(21.39±0.76)kg were selected and randomly divided into three groups,with 10 replicates per group and one Hu sheep per replicate.The corn straw group(CK group)was fed a basal diet,the yellow-corn straw group(Group A)replaced an equivalent amount of corn straw in the basal diet with yellow-corn straw,and the calcium propionate group(Group B)replaced an equivalent amount of corn straw in the basal diet with yellow-corn straw treated with 0.2％calcium propionate.The trial period was 42 days.The results showed that the average daily weight gain of Hu sheep in Group B was significantly higher than that in the CK group(P＜0.05),and the ratio of feed to gain was significantly lower than that in CK group and Group A(P＜0.05).The apparent crude protein(CP)digestibility of Hu sheep in Group B was significantly higher than that in CK group and Group A(P＜0.05).There were no significant differences in nitrogen metabolism,calcium metabolism,and phosphorus metabolism of Hu sheep among all groups(P＞0.05),the nitrogen retention rates and calcium retention rates in Group B were higher than those in CK group and Group A(P＞0.05).There were no significant differences in serum biochemical indexes of Hu sheep among all groups(P＞0.05),the serum BUN content in Group B tended to decrease compared to CK group and Group A.The study indicates that the addition of yellow-corn straw treated with calcium propionate to the diet can improve the average daily weight gain,reduce the feed to gain ratio,and enhance the apparent digestibility of crude protein in Hu sheep.