Effect of fibrolytic enzyme inclusion in high concentrate fattening diets on nutrient digestibility and growth performance of Awassi lambs

The objective of this study was to study the effect of fibrolytic enzyme (FE) inclusion on nutrient digestibility and growth performance of Awassi lamb fed on a high concentrate diet. Thirty weaned Awassi lambs (initial body weight = 20.4 ± 3.0 kg) were fed a high concentrate diet (with or without the addition of FE (15 lambs/treatment)) for 60 d in a completely randomized design. The diet contained 17, 7, 58.5, 15, and 2.5% wheat straw, wheat bran, barley grain, soybean meal and minerals, respectively. Lambs were fed ad libitum twice daily at 08:00 and 15:00 h. Dry matter, OM, CP, and NDF intakes were all similar (P > 0.05) for lambs fed diet with or without the FE and averaged 1078, 941, 171, and 432 g/d, respectively. Metabolizable energy intake was also not affected (P > 0.05) by the enzyme supplementation and averaged 2.87 Mcal/d. Dry matter, OM, CP, and NDF digestibilities were all unaffected (P > 0.05) by the enzyme inclusion and averaged 64.8, 67, 65.7 and 60.4%. Final body weight, average daily gain, and feed to gain ratio were all unaffected (P > 0.05) by the FE inclusion and averaged 34.9 kg, 222 g/d, and 5.4, respectively. In summary, FE treatment of high concentrate diet for lambs had no effect on nutrient intake or any of the growth performance parameters. Therefore, supplementing such diets with FE for fatting Awassi lambs is not recommended.