Daily and alternate day supplementation of Moringa oleifera leaf meal or soyabean meal to lambs receiving oat hay

• This paper evaluated the replacement value of Moringa leaf (MLM) for soybean meal.
• Intake, diet digestibility, rumen fermentation and blood metabolites were controlled.
• Daily and alternate day access to MLM had similar effect on intake and digestion.
• MLM could be considered as an alternative protein supplement for lamb.

We hypothesized that Moringa oleifera foliage which is high in crude protein and almost free in main secondary compounds could replace soyabean meal used in supplementation strategies of livestock. Therefore, this experiment aimed to evaluate the effect of daily and alternate day supplementation of Moringa leaf meal (MLM) or soybean meal (SBM) to sheep on intake and digestion and glucose, protein and urea in blood plasma. Twenty Barbarine male lambs (average initial body weight, 27.3±3.0 kg), were randomly divided into four groups of five lambs each. They were adapted for 22 days to dietary treatments before starting a 6-day total collection period. All animals consumed oat hay ad libitum supplemented with concentrates composed of barley grain only (C-BAR) or mixed with SBM (C-SBM), or MLM (C-MLM) as protein sources. Groups 1 and 2 received daily C-SBM and C-MLM, respectively. However, groups 3 and 4 had access to concentrates containing the protein sources (C-SBM and C-MLM) with alternate day that means they received for one day these concentrates and in the following day they received barley grain only (C-BAR). Soybean meal and MLM incorporation in concentrates had similar effects (P>0.05) on water, hay, and digestible organic matter (OM) intakes and DM, organic matter (OM) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) digestibility. Daily substitution of SBM by MLM increased (P=0.024) crude protein (CP) intake and apparent total tract digestibility. However, the alternate day supplementation decreased apparent total tract CP digestibility but increased CP intake for SBM treatment. The concentration of ruminal ammonia nitrogen before feeding was higher (P=0.012) in groups 1 and 3 than in the other groups. The concentration of blood glucose was similar (P>0.05) among treatments. However, lambs receiving C-SBM exhibited highest concentrations of protein (P=0.039) and urea (P=0.001) in the blood. It is concluded that MLM administered at two day-intervals had similar effects on feed intake, digestion and blood metabolites to SBM incorporated in concentrate distributed to sheep receiving oat hay.