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Acta Prataculturae Sinica ›› 2019, Vol. 28 ›› Issue (9): 155-163.DOI: 10.11686/cyxb2018578

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Effects of sweet sorghum forage and grape seed on production performance and blood physiological parameters of small-tailed Han sheep

WANG Ting1, WANG Hu-cheng1, GOU Na-na1, FENG Qiang3, HE Chun-gui4, SHANG Zhan-huan1,2,*   

  1. 1.State Key Laboratory of Grassland Agro-ecosystems, Key Laboratory of Grassland Livestock Industry Innovation, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, College of Pastoral Agriculture Science and Technology, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730020, China;
    2.College of Life Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China;
    3.Anding District Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Medicine Bureau, Dingxi 743020, China;
    4.Gansu Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Lanzhou 730000, China
  • Received:2018-08-31 Revised:2018-12-24 Online:2019-09-20 Published:2019-09-20
  • Contact: *E-mail: shangzhh@lzu.edu.cn

Abstract: This experiment aimed to provide a theoretical basis for safe and efficient utilization of sweet sorghum forage and grape seed. The experiment was conducted in Dingxi City, Gansu Province. A total of 28 Small-tailed Han sheep (17.3±1.20) kg were randomly selected and divided into four groups and fed: sweet sorghum silage+concentrate (SN group), sweet sorghum silage+6% grape seed concentrate (SY group), sweet sorghum hay+concentrate (DN group), sweet sorghum hay+6% grape seed concentrate (DY group). The sheep were weighed before morning feeding on days 1, 30, 60, and 100 of the experiment feeding period. Blood was sampled before the morning feeding on days 20, 50, and 100 days and blood indicators were measured. It was found that: the sweet sorghum forage and grape seed had no significant effect on the dry matter intake (DMI), average daily gain (ADG) or feed conversion ratio (F/G) of the sheep (P>0.05), but the ADG of the SY group was 30% higher than the DN group, and the final weight gain was 15.4% more. The grape seed had no significant effect on the blood physiological parameters of the sheep (P>0.05). The red blood cell (RBC) and hematocrit (HCT) were significantly higher in sweet sorghum silage groups (SN and SY) than sweet sorghum hay groups (DN and DY) (P<0.05). The mean corpuscular hemoglobin (MCH) and mean corpuscular hemoglobin concentration (MCHC) were very significantly higher in sweet sorghum hay groups (DN and DY) than in sweet sorghum silage groups (SN and SY) (P<0.01). Platelet counts (PLT) of the sheep in the sweet sorghum silage groups (SN and SY) on the 20th and 100th days were all significantly lower than that in sweet sorghum hay groups (DN and DY) (P<0.05). The blood physiological parameters of the experimental animals were all within the safe range, but feeding sweet sorghum silage provided a beneficial improvement of red blood cell and platelet indicators of the sheep, and the combination of sweet sorghum silage and grape seeds improved the daily growth rates of the sheep.

Key words: sweet sorghum silage, sweet sorghum hay, grape seed, physiological parameters