Use of spent maize cobs as source of roughage in the ration of Bandur lambs

Abstract

Bandur lambs (18), 10-month-old, weighing 11.97 kg body weight were randomly divided into 3 groups of 6 each. The lambs were given a basal diet of ragi straw and concentrate in control group (T1). The maize cobs replaced 50 and 100% ragi straw in the diet of T2 and T3 groups of lambs. All lambs were fed complete diets as TMR with 50:50 of concentrate: roughage meeting the nutrient requirement. Initial body weight, final body weight and the body weight gains were similar among the three groups. There was no effect of the diet on the weight gain. There was no significant change in DMI and nutrient digestibility in different groups. However, incorporation of maize cobs in the diet increased bacterial and fungal counts in the rumen. Bulk density of maize cobs and maize cob-based diets could be increased many folds by converting them in to blocks for easy storage and transportation. The study concludes that ground maize cobs could replace ragi straw completely in the ration of lambs.