Effects of fermented Chinese herbal residues on growth performance,intestinal microbiota,and nutrient apparent digestibility in Hu sheep lambs

WU Pingping; WU Jun; XU Erxue; WU Huajian; HE Shaojun

doi:10.13557/j.cnki.issn1002-2813.2025.04.004

Abstract：This study aimed to investigate the effects of different levels of fermented Chinese herbal residues on growth performance,nutrient apparent digestibility,and intestinal microbiota in Hu sheep lambs.Sixty healthy weaned Hu sheep lambs with similar body weights were randomly divided into four groups,each with three replicates and five lambs per replicate.The dietary treatments included 0,0.5％,1.0％,and 2.0％fermented Chinese herbal residues supplementation.The pre-test period was one week and the formal test period was six weeks.The results showed that compared to the control group,feeding 1.0％fermented Chinese herbal residues significantly increased the average daily gain of Hu sheep lambs(P＜0.05).The ratio of feed to gain was significantly decreased by feeding fermented Chinese herbal residues(P＜0.05).Feeding 1.0％and 2.0％fermented Chinese herbal residues extremaly reduced the diarrhea rate(P＜0.01).Compared with the control group,feeding 1.0％fermented Chinese herbal residues significantly increased Chao1 index and Ace index(P＜0.05).Compared with the control group,feeding 1.0％and 2.0％fermented Chinese herbal residues extremely increased the abundance of Firmicutes(P＜0.01),significantly increased the abundance of Actinomycetes(P＜0.05),and significantly decreased the abundance of Proteobacteria in intestinal tract of lambs(P＜0.05).The abundance of Bacteroidetes in intestinal tract of lambs was significantly increased by feeding fermented Chinese herbal residues(P＜0.05).Compared with the control group,feeding fermented Chinese herbal residues significantly increased the abundance of Enteric ruminococcus(P＜0.05).Feeding 1.0％and 2.0％fermented Chinese herbal residues significantly decreased the abundance of intestinal Clostridium(P＜0.05).Feeding 1.0％fermented Chinese herbal residues significantly decreased the abundance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa(P＜0.05),and significantly increased the abundance of Succinomyces(P＜0.05).Compared with the control group,the apparent digestibility of crude protein and calcium of Hu sheep lambs were significantly increased by feeding 1.0％fermented Chinese herbal residues(P＜0.05).Feeding 1.0％and 2.0％fermented Chinese herbal residues significantly increased the digestibility of acid and neutral detergent fiber of Hu sheep lambs(P＜0.05).The study shows that fermented Chinese herbal residues improve growth performance,intestinal health,and nutrient utilization in Hu sheep lambs,with 1.0％fermented Chinese herbal residues being the optimal supplementation level.