M. K. Mohsen, Ezzat S. Tawfik:
Growth Performance, Rumen Fermentation and Blood Constituents of Goats Fed Diets Supplimented with Bentonite

M. K. MOHSEN¹, EZZAT S. TAWFIK^2
1Tanta University, Department of Animal Production, Egypt
²University of Kassel, Department of International Animal Husbandry, Germany

Fifteen male Angora goats with an average body weight of [12.9]kg were randomly assigned to three groups of five kids each in an 84 days' growth experiment. Animals were kept in semi-opened pens rations that consisted of concentrate mixture and urea treated rice straw (3kg urea dissolved in 50kg water and sprayed on 100kg rice straw). Bentonite 0 (control), 2.5 and [5]% was mixed for each group with the concentrate mixture.

Results showed that inclusion of bentonite significantly (p<0.05) increased daily gain of kids without significant difference between the bentonite groups 2.5 and [5]% respectively.

Results also showed that addition of bentonite to the ration of kids caused a significant (p<0.05) improvement in feed conversion efficiency. Bentonite significantly (p<0.05) increased dry matter (DM), organic matter (OM) and crude protein (CD) digestibilities. The nutritive value (%) expressed as TDN showed an increase (p<0.05) for the treatments with bentonite. Nitrogen balance of bentonite groups was significantly (p<0.05) higher than the non-treated control, without significant difference between groups in this respect.

Keywords: Bentonite, goats, rumen, TDN, urea

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Contact Address: M. K. Mohsen, Tanta University, Department of Animal Production, Kafr El-Sheikh, Egypt, e-mail: dr mohsenmasrawy.com